NIGERIA’S Super Eagles dropped from 28th to 30th position in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking
World football governing body, FIFA, released the latest rankings on their website on Thursday, 4 April 2024.
In Africa, the Super Eagles occupy the third spot behind Atlas Lions of Morocco and Teranga Lions of Senegal.
Morocco are number one in Africa and 13th in the world while Senegal are second on the continent and 17th place in the world,
The last ranking released in February saw the Eagles climb 14 places to 28th position.
The impressive climb was due to the team’s performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire where they finished second.
It was mixed fortunes for the Eagles’ two opponents in Group C of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers which will resume in June.
South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, who will be guests to the Eagles in Uyo for match day three games dropped to 59th place.
Benin Republic, who will host the Nigerian team, climbed to 97th spot in the rankings.
Meanwhile, World Cup champions Argentina maintain the number one spot and are followed by France (2nd) Belgium (3rd), England (4th) and Brazil (5th).
Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Croatia make up the top 10 teams in the world ranking.
The next ranking will be published on 20 June 2024.
A total of 174 matches, spanning all four corners of the globe, were played during the most recent window in the Men’s International Match Calendar. Asian teams were involved in various formats, including FIFA World Cup ‘26 qualifier, whereas the Concacaf zone witnessed the final phase of the Nations League. There were also several friendly matches in each of the six confederations as part of the FIFA Series 2024.
These matches have had a significant effect on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking, most notably within the top 10.
Argentina (1st) continues 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) complete 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.
USA (11th, up 2), Colombia (12th, up 2), Ukraine (22nd, up 2) and Poland (28th, up 2) have all made progress up the ranking, as have Czechia (36th, up 4), Palestine (93rd, up 4) and Kyrgyz Republic (100th, up 4), all of whom have taken the biggest strides among the top 100 teams.
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 currently in their highest-ever position in the ranking.
The next edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking will be published on 20 June.
Eighteen-Eleven Media