Duro Ikhazuagbe
Super Eagles 1-0 defeat of Poland in an international friendly last month played a significant role in the rise of the three-time African champions from 52nd to 47th position in the latest FIFA rankings released yesterday. The senior Nigerian football team also earned a lift to the sixth place in the African rankings.
Eagles displaced Cameroon at sixth to trail Tunisia, Senegal, Congo DR, Morocco and Egypt who occupy the first five places in the latest FIFA rankings respectively. Tunisia’s 14th spot in April global rankings is their first-ever best grade in football.
For Eagles’ 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Group E opponents, only South Africa moved up as Libya and Seychelles dropped. South Africa rose four places to 72, while Libya and Seychelles dropped to 100th and 194th respectively.
Also, the reverse was the case for all three Super Eagles Group D opponents at summer’s World Cup in Russia.
Argentina dropped one spot to fifth, Croatia dropped three places to 18th while Iceland dropped to 22nd.
In the overall global standing for the month of April, World Cup holders Germany remains number one, with Brazil in second, Belgium is third with Portugal fourth and Argentina fifth. In sixth position is Switzerland, France seventh, Spain in eight, Chile in ninth and Poland 10th.
There were also best-ever positions for the newest FIFA Member Associations, with Kosovo’s pair of friendly victories over Madagascar and Burkina Faso seeing them leap 24 places to 152nd, while Gibraltar’s 1-0 win over Latvia saw them jump ten spots to 196th.
The next FIFA World Ranking will be released on May 17, 2018.
AFRICA’S TOP TEN
(Global ranking in brackets)
1. Tunisia (14)
2. Senegal (28)
3. DR Congo (38)
4. Morocco (42)
5. Egypt (46)
6. Nigeria (47)
7. Cameroon (51)
7. Ghana (51)
9. Burkina Faso (53)
10. Cape Verde (58)
