By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria has crashed to 38th position globally in latest rankings, FIFA revealed on Thursday morning.
According to FIFA, the Super Eagles now have 1498.93 points, a decrease from their previous 1520.27 points.
Super Eagles Nosedive
Formerly ranked 30th in March, Nigeria’s decline follows its recent poor performance in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
Few days ago, the Super Eagles played a 1-1 draw against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and later suffered a 2-1 defeat to Benin Republic in a match played in Ivory Coast, with hope of securing a ticket been doubtful.
Liberia, Others Gain
Liberia with 10 points up are the biggest climbers in the ranking, especially in Africa, with the Lone Stars still unbeaten in 2024.
Also, there are many changes elsewhere in the top 100.
At that level Ghana surged to 64th, up 4 points, Honduras (78th, up 4), Haiti (86th, up 4), Curaçao (87th, up 4) and Benin (91st, up 6) are among the most eye-catching, but Namibia (97th, up 9) eclipse them all, hurtling themselves up nine places.
It is a similar story in the second half of the ranking, with Mozambique (103rd, up 7), Madagascar (104th, up 5), Korea DPR (110th, up 8), Sudan (121st, up 6), Nicaragua (130th, up 5) and Gibraltar (198th, up 5) all seeing positive performances rewarded.
Argentina’s Consolidation
On top, Argentina maintained its position in the World rankings.
The South American nation gained 2.14 points, bringing their total to 1860.14. France and Belgium remain second and third.
However, there are changes down the line,
Brazil are fourth and England fifth as both countries swap places.
Cristiano Portugal are placed sixth, the Netherlands and Spain occupy seventh and eighth positions.
Croatia are ninth to overtake Italy at now at 10th position, who nonetheless hold onto a place among the leading pack.
Between the AFC, CAF and Concacaf qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 26™ and the warm-up matches ahead of UEFA EURO 2024, the CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 and the OFC Men’s Nations Cup, there has been no shortage of international action since the previous edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking was published in April.
No fewer than 187 national team bouts have been contested since then, and the throng of changes in the latest standings therefore come as no surprise.
