By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria and Cote d’ivoire have made great gains in the latest FIFA ranking, following their exploits at the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations.
While Nigeria now places 28th on the global ranking, Cote d’ivoire are 39th.
According to the ranking published on FIFA website on Thursday, both countries after finishing second and overall best at AFCON, currently occupy third and fifth positions respectively in Africa.
Nigeria, moving under 30 for the first time in recent years, was to their brave performance at the AFCON, which saw that they lose just one match out of seven at the tournament.
The 28th position saw them move 14 places from the previous ranking released last year.
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The Nigerian team scored eight goals and conceded four goals in Ivory Coast, keeping four clean sheets in the process, but couldn’t find the cutting edge in the AFCON 2023 final under the tutelage of Portuguese tactician, Jose Peseiro.
Despite their loss, their display in the tournament has seen them shoot up in the ranking.
Previously ranked 42, Nigeria moved up fourteen places.
Nigeria is just behind Morocco and Senegal that occupy 12th and 17th places respectively.
While Morocco still lead in the continent, Senegal follow suit as second best.
2023 AFCON winners, Ivory Coast are fifth in Africa.
Senegal (17th, up 3), who suffered shoot-out heartbreak at the hands of the eventual winners Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16, breaking new ground.
Other impressive performers are Equatorial Guinea (79th, up 9), South Africa (58th, up 8), Cabo Verde (65th, up 8), Namibia (107th, up 8) and Mali (47th, up 4).
FIFA will release another ranking on April 4, 2024.
The African Top 20 in the FIFA rankings
1-Morocco (12th)
2-Senegal (17th)
3-Nigeria (28th)
4-Egypt (36th)
5-Cote d’Ivoire (39th)
6-Tunisia (41st)
7-Algeria (43rd)
8-Mali (47th)
9-Cameroon (51st)
10-South Africa (58th)
11-Burkina Faso (61st)
12-DR Congo (63rd)
13-Cape Verde (65th)
14-Ghana (67th)
15-Guinea (76th)
16-Equatorial Guinea (79th)
17-Gabon (84th)
18-Zambia (87th)
19-Uganda (92nd)
20-Angola (93rd)
