FIFA Rankings: Nigeria Climbs Two Places in The World Standings.

The latest FIFA World Ranking has been released on Thursday, 17 September for the first time since April, following the suspension of football activities over the past few months due to the global coronavirus crisis.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria who finished third at the 2019 African Cup Of Nations moved two places from 31st to 29th spot in the world rankings, which is the countries highest for the first time since May 2013. 

Nigeria got 1493 points, same points acquired in the last ranking despite being yet to play a single game this year, but remain static (3rd) in Africa, just behind Senegal and Tunisia who are ranked 1st and 2nd respectively.

Gernot Rohr’s men last played in November 2019, having fought back from a goal deficit to thrash the Crocodiles (Lesotho) 4-2 in their second Group L qualifying game at Setsoto Stadium for the next Africa Cup of Nations tournament now set to be played in 2022. 

Nigeria next game is set to be a friendly match against Cote d’Ivoire and Tunisia in Austria in October.

You may recall that, the three-time AFCON champions were initially scheduled to play a double-header game against Sierra Leone in March, but the fixtures were moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reigning African Champions Algeria, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon, Mali and DR Congo followed suit behind the Super Eagles, to make up the top ten best teams in Africa.

Meanwhile in the global ranking, European nations were the biggest movers this time around thanks to the recent action in the UEFA Nations League.

Belgium remain static in top spot of the rankings, following victory over Denmark and Iceland earlier this month in the Nations League, while the other top four teams (France, Brazil, England) remains unchanged.

Cristiano Ronaldo's inspired Portugal enjoys a strong move above Uruguay into fifth position, after the reigning European and Nations League champions recenctly got a superb victory over Croatia and Sweden in the Nation League, while Spain climbed over Croatia into seventh.

The best mover in the new ranking was Russia, jumping 6 places to the 32nd place, while the biggest drop was Slovakia's, who dropped four spots to 36th place.

Japan ranked No.28 leads the Asian Confederation teams, and 2022 World Cup Host Qatar are ranked No.55.

Here are the Top-10 ranked national teams in the World:

1. Belgium 
2. France
3. Brazil 
4. England
5. Portugal
6. Uruguay
7. Spain
8. Croatia 
9. Argentina
10. Colombia

Here are the Top-10 ranked national teams in Africa and their positions in the world:

1. Senegal and ranked 20th in the world 
2. Tunisia ranked 26th in the world 
3. Nigeria ranked 29th in the world 
4. Algeria ranked 35th in the world 
5. Morocco ranked 43rd in the world 
6. Ghana ranked 46th in the world 
7. Egypt ranked 51st in the world 
8. Cameroon ranked 53rd in the word 
9. Mali ranked 56th in the world 
10. DR. Congo ranked 56th in the world

The next FIFA rankings will be published on October 22nd, 2020.