The Nigeria’s Super Eagles have moved 14 places to 28th position on the FIFA ranking, according to the latest placements released on Thursday.
This comes after Nigeria’s impressive showing at the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. Nigeria settled for the silver medal after losing 2 – 1 to Cote d’Ivoire in the final of the tournament.
The AFCON finalists were the sixth-best team in Africa at the beginning of the Nations Cup on 11 January but an unbeaten run to the final has seen them soar up to third place. Also, AFCON champions, Cote d’Ivoire, rose 10 places to break into the top five football-playing countries in Africa.
Angola, beaten by Nigeria in the quarterfinals, are the biggest movers, as they rose 24 places.
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“Indeed, across the two continents, no fewer than six teams have scaled ten places or more. Amongst the African sides, Côte d’Ivoire (39th, up 10) reap the rewards of their continental triumph on home soil, secured following an eventful tournament campaign,” FIFA wrote on its website while announcing the latest ranking.
“Beaten finalists Nigeria (28th, up 14) make significant strides but are no match for the Angola side they ousted in the last eight (93rd, up 24), who are the biggest climbers in the latest installment of the global ranking.”
The latest move makes the Super Eagles Africa’s number three team in Africa only behind Morocco (who are 12th) and Senegal, who are ranked 17th.
Argentina retains its No. 1 spot, followed by France and England. Filling out the top 10 places are Belgium, Brazil, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Croatia.
The 2022 World Cup hosts, Qatar, also rose on account of retaining their Asian Cup. “Qatar’s rise sees them enter uncharted territory, with two other teams also recording best-ever rankings.
“Senegal (17th, up 3), who suffered shoot-out heartbreak at the hands of the eventual winners Cote d’Ivoire in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16, break new ground, while Tajikistan (99th, up 7) mark their maiden Asian Cup campaign by making a first-ever appearance in the top 100.”
