It is true that Swaziland is ranked 134 in the World and that since the rankings were introduced by Fifa its average position has hovered around 143 or so.

But that does not mean they don’t have a good team. Their last three games alone will show that Sihlangu Semnikati or the Kings Shield, have been playing much better than the monthly Fifa rankings have shown.

First was the 2-1 upset of Guinea in Casablanca on the 12 of June when the Southern Africans displayed a suffocating defence and a tight compact midfield that gave the normally speedy Guineans major fits all game long.

They successfully voided the West African’s response to the long ball and in turn delivered quite a surprising and potent counter.

Then came the double header of friendlies against Angola which produced a 2-2 draw at home in Lobamba on the fourth of July and a 2-0 loss in Luanda two weeks later with a watered down squad.

This means their rise is the rankings is only destined to continue and people are now openly talking about exceeding their best performance in an international tourna-ment under Coach Harris Bulunga , which so far has been a semi-final finish in the COSAFA Cup as well as a Ranking of 90 in the World in October1993. Some are even daring to envision, and as absurd as it sounds, Russia in 2018.

Standing in their way will be Djibouti first, and then Nigeria second. While much can’t be said about Djibouti which at 207 is ranked dead last in Africa, the team out of Nigeria as we know is totally different and has been a competitor in a slew of World Cups.

So even with the new transition in Abuja and the Super Eagles being rebuilt, many Aficionados are already looking forward to a Nigeria Swazi encounter. The same Aficionados will most likely also point out that when the King’s Shield beat the Guineans in Morocco, the West Africans were ranked 58th in the world which is just one below Nigeria at 57.

Nigerians should also be reminded that on 8 June 2008 the Swazis achieved their first win in a World Cup qualifier in a long time by beating 2006 finalists and an Adebayor led Togo 2–1 on home soil. So they are quite capable of doing the impossible again and new Coach Oliseh should be wary.

After all this is Africa and as we know the term minnows is now extinct and anything is possible.