By Abiola Olawale
Nigeria’s men’s national team, Super Eagles have tumbled to their lowest FIFA world ranking in over six years, slipping to 45th place in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking released on Thursday.
This drop represents a downward trajectory for the three-time African champions, who are now in sixth position on the African continent.
The Super Eagles were ranked 43rd in April and 44th in July, but have now dropped another spot in the September update.
Morocco remains Africa’s highest-ranked team, sitting 11th in the world after securing an early qualification for next year’s FIFA World Cup. Senegal follows as the continent’s second-best side at 18th globally, with Egypt (35th) and Algeria (38th) rounding out the top four.
Côte d’Ivoire, buoyed by a consistent run of results, has climbed to 44th in the world, overtaking Nigeria to claim fifth place in Africa. Tunisia also made gains, rising three spots to 49th. Cameroon, South Africa, and Mali complete Africa’s top ten.
On the global stage, Spain has returned to the top of the FIFA rankings for the first time since 2014, following their UEFA EURO 2024 triumph.
They toppled Argentina, who are currently world champions, dropping to third, while France moves up to second place.
Germany suffered one of the steepest drops in the rankings, falling to 12th after a shock World Cup qualifier defeat to Slovakia, a result that propelled the Slovaks ten places up to 42nd.
Other notable climbers in the latest rankings include Paraguay (37th, up 6), Uganda (82nd, up 6), The Gambia (115th, up 8), and Madagascar (108th, up 7). Morocco (11th, up 1) remains just outside the global top ten, buoyed by an impressive run of eight wins in its last nine matches.
