Nigeria’s 0-2 loss to Mali penultimate week in Morocco may have caused the Super Eagles to drop from last month’s 28th position to 30th in the latest FIFA ranking released yesterday morning.
However, despite the drop in global ranking, the Super Eagles remain in third position in Africa behind Morocco and Senegal.
The Nigeria versus Mali match was just one of the 174 games at the last international window.
Nigeria played two matches, one of which Super Eagles won, a 2-1 defeat of their traditional rivals, the Black Stars of Ghana.
According to a press release by FIFA, the matches played all over the world had a significant effect on the current World Ranking, most notably within the top ten.
Argentina (1st) continue to lead the way ahead of France (2nd), but Belgium (3rd, up 1) have returned to the podium at the expense of England (4th, down 1). Brazil (5th) completes the top five, but Portugal (6th, up 1) are now knocking on the door. The Netherlands (7th, down 1) have slipped one place, whereas Spain (8th), Italy (9th) and Croatia (10th) have all held on to their positions.
The USA (11th, up 2), Colombia (12th, up 2), Ukraine (22nd, up 2) and Poland (28th, up 2) have all made progress up the ranking.
It is outside of the top 100, however, that the biggest movers are to be found. Libya (114th, up 6) and Afghanistan (151st, up 7) have made impressive progress, but it is Indonesia (134th, up 8) who are the biggest climbers on the back of their two victories over Vietnam during FIFA World Cup 26 qualifiers.
Finally, the performances of Qatar (34th, up 3) and Comoros (117th, up 4) are also worthy of mention as both teams are now in their highest-ever position in the ranking.
