Super Eagles Stumble In FIFA Ranking As Argentina Return To Summit

Nigeria’s Super Eagles came tumbling down the ladder in the new FIFA ranking released Thursday, falling down five steps from the previous 35th position to occupy 40th spot in the world. 

The team also fell out of the top five in Africa, occupying the sixth position due the home defeat inflicted on them by less fancy Guinea Bissau in Abuja last month.

In the last three rankings released, Nigeria had been on steady decline. They dropped from 32 to 35 in October and now 40.

Meanwhile, six years after topping the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, Argentina are once again at the summit of world football. Recent friendly wins against Panama (2-0) and Curaçao (7-0) helped the world champions dethrone Brazil (3rd, minus 2), who paid a high price for defeat in their friendly against Morocco (2-1).

Not only did A Seleçao surrender top spot, but they also saw France (2nd, plus 1) move ahead of them. Les Bleus’ ascent to second is down to back-to-back wins in UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying against the Netherlands (4-0) and Republic of Ireland (1-0).

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Outside the leading trio, there were no other movers among the Top 10. Belgium (4th, -) remain just outside the podium places, closely followed by England (5th, -). In fact, the swapping of places by Senegal (18th, plus 1) and Denmark (19th, minus 1) were the only other notable changes in the Top 20.

Further down the Ranking, however, there has been no shortage of movement, with the strides made by Serbia (25th, plus 4), Algeria (34th, plus 6), Egypt (35th, plus 4), and Scotland (36th , plus 6) among the most significant. No less impressive is the progress of Romania (46th, plus 6) and Canada (47th, plus 6), who moved into the Top 50 at the expense of Mali (53rd, minus 8) and Saudi Arabia (54th, minus 5).

However, the most improved side in this edition are the Central African Republic (122nd, plus 10). By twice beating Madagascar, at the time ranked 30 places above them, Les Fauves du Bas-Oubangui rose 10 places in the global standings, outperforming other notable movers such as Namibia (106th, plus 7), Malaysia (138th, plus 7) and The Gambia (120th, plus 6).