Pretoria - Bafana Bafana has fallen to number 49 in the latest FIFA World rankings released on Wednesday.
Bafana dropped two places from their previous 47th position.
However, the 2010 FIFA World Cup host maintained their seventh position on the continent, which makes them one of the seeded teams for the 2014 FIFA World Cup draw to be held in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, 30 July.
Bafana has avoided the top 10 ranked powerhouses on the continent; Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Algeria and Tunisia.
Meanwhile, Egypt and Ghana have swopped places to occupy second and third places respectively.
South Africa's drop is due to their inactivity, while the recently-ended Copa America tournament in South America has also played a major role with some of the biggest movers coming from that region.
The winners of the showpiece Uruguay have moved 13 places to 5th position in the world, while silver medallists Paraguay shifted six places up to the 26th spot.
Chile is in eleventh position having moved 16 places; semi-finalists Peru is 25th, a move of 24 places; Colombia occupies the 35th spot from 45th in the previous rankings while Venezuela is in the 40th position from 69th.
South Africa's next opponents, Burkina Faso, have also dropped two places to 39th in the world but remain fourth on the continent.
World champions Spain remain top of the world rankings, followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and Uruguay. England, Italy, Portugal, Croatia and Argentina complete the top ten.
Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane said it is important to keep on playing to stand a better chance of improving on our rankings.
"Now it becomes crucial that we qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations tournament and go as far as we can to help us also climb higher.
"We need to do well in the three upcoming matches, Burkina Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone to start the journey back to the top.
"It's good that we are still in the top ten on the continent as this will help a great deal when the 2014 FIFA World Cup draw is conducted this coming weekend in Brazil," Mosimane said.
The next FIFA Coca Cola/World Rankings will be released on Wednesday, 24 August.
