Premium Times (Abuja)

Nigeria Rises to 30th in Fifa Rankings, Below Cote d' Ivoire, Mali

New African Champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria, moved up a massive 22 places from 52nd to 30th spot in the latest rankings released Thursday by the world football governing body, FIFA.

The February 2013 rankings is the best ever for Nigeria in over 30 months as the country has endured a tough curve in her football over the years.

The victory in South Africa, Nigeria's third Africa Nations Cup win was, however, not enough to shoot her straight to the summit of teams from Africa as the Coach Stephen Keshi side only moved from 10th place to fourth position in the ranking of Africa teams

The Elephants of Cote d' Ivoire, despite exiting the Africa Cup of Nations earlier than expected after failing 2-1 to Nigeria, remain Africa's highest ranked team in 12th place having moved two steps in the February edition.

Mali who were mauled 4-1 by Nigeria in the semi finals, and also the Black Stars of Ghana are ranked 2nd and 3rd in Africa.

Algeria, Tunisia, Zambia, Central Africa Republic, Burkina Faso and South Africa complete the roster of Africa's top ten teams.

The Spanish national team that will be facing the Super Eagles in the Confederations Cup later in June remains the number one team in the world.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on March 14.

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