FIFA RANKING
Nigeria’s World Cup opponents rise in ranking as Super Eagles slump
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The bad start to the World Cup qualification campaign by the Super Eagles has manifested in the latest FIFA ranking released this Thursday.
Expectedly, Nigeria slumped globally, falling two steps down to 42 from last month’s 40th position. The results in the two World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe may have been contributory factors.
Paradoxically, Lesotho who were forced to a 1-1 draw by Nigeria in Uyo, climbed up from 153 in October to 148 in November.
Similarly, Zimbabwe which the Super Eagles laboured to force a 1-1 draw also rose from 125 to 124. Rwanda, the surprise team in Nigeria’s Group C rose from 140 to 133, courtesy of their impressive 2-0 defeat of South Africa who slumped from 64 to 66.
Zimbabwe has taken a five step up in the FIFA ranking just released this Thursday. The Zimbabwe Warriors are now 116th in the world ranking among the teams that got astronomical rise in the current ranking.
The 90th minute scored against Nigeria in World Cup qualifiers that ended 1-1 contributed to the rise.
Meanwhile, Nigeria also rose a step to the 43rd position from that of December 2024. They are 6th in Africa. Have they beaten Zimbabwe, their ranking could have been better.
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Although currently 36th in the world, Nigeria’s women’s football team, Super Falcons remains the highest ranked in Africa. This is the sequel of the current ranking released on Friday by FIFA.
This is however a far cry from their best-ever ranking of 23rd obtained in June 2004 and March 2005.
On their current ranking, they are followed in Africa by South Africa 53rd, Morocco 61st, Zambia 62nd, Ghana 66th, Cameroon 68th and Cote d’Ivoire 71st.
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The Algerian national team has capitalised on Nigeria’s struggles for form and consistency. Algeria has risen to 4th place in Africa, overtaking Nigeria, which endured a dismal international break.
The Super Eagles drew 1-1 with Benin and suffered a 2-1 defeat against Rwanda, resulting in a significant loss of 21.06 points.
This drop saw Nigeria plummet from 36th to 44th in the global rankings, sliding into 5th place in Africa.
Meanwhile, Algeria avoided a similar fate by securing a 5-1 win against Liberia and a goalless draw with Equatorial Guinea, maintaining their 36th spot globally despite a slight points reduction.
The Fennecs have now solidified their place among Africa’s elite.
African Top 20 FIFA Rankings
1- Morocco (14th)
2- Senegal (17th)
3- Egypt (33rd)
4- Algeria (37th)
5- Nigeria (44th)
6- Ivory Coast (46th)
7- Cameroon (49th)
9- Mali (51st)
10- Tunisia (52nd)
11- South Africa (57th)
12- DR Congo (61st)
13- Burkina Faso (66th)
14- Cape Verde (72nd)
15- Ghana (77th)
16- Gabon (84th)
17- Angola (85th)
18- Zambia (87th)
19- Uganda (88th)
20- Equatorial Guinea (93rd)
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