Rédaction Africa Links 24 with James Agberebi
Published on 2024-04-04 10:55:30
The Super Eagles of Nigeria experienced a drop in their position in the latest FIFA world ranking, which was released on Thursday. The rankings, available on FIFA’s website, showed the Eagles slipping from 28th place to 30th globally. In Africa, the team currently sits in third place, behind Morocco and Senegal. Morocco holds the top spot in Africa and is ranked 13th in the world, while Senegal is second in Africa and 17th globally.
In the previous ranking released in February, the Super Eagles had made a significant leap, moving up 14 places from 42nd to 28th. This jump was largely attributed to their impressive performance at the 2023 AFCON. Despite a recent 2-1 victory over their rivals, the Black Stars of Ghana, the Eagles were unable to maintain their position and experienced the drop in ranking.
Looking ahead to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, who will face the Eagles in Group C, dropped to 59th place in the rankings. Benin Republic, another opponent for the Nigerian team in the qualifiers, moved up to 97th position. Currently, in the World Cup qualifiers, the Super Eagles are in third place with two points, behind South Africa in second with three points and Benin Republic in last with one point.
The reigning World Cup champions, Albiceleste of Argentina, hold the top spot in the FIFA rankings. Following them are two-time World Cup winners and 2022 runners-up France in second place, Belgium in third, England in fourth, and five-time World Cup champions Brazil in fifth. Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and Croatia round out the top ten in the rankings.
The next FIFA world ranking is set to be published on June 20, 2024. It will be interesting to see how the Super Eagles of Nigeria, as well as the other teams, fare in the upcoming matches and tournaments that will impact their positions in the rankings.
