Nigeria: Super Eagles Drop in FIFA Ranking, Argentina Rise to the Top

6 April 2023
Premium Times (Abuja)
By Jide Alaka

After a loss and a win and just one goal scored over 180 minutes, the Super Eagles are now ranked No. 6 in Africa.

Nigeria's Super Eagles, coached by Jose Peseiro, have dropped down the FIFA rankings.

The team, who fell 1-0 to Guinea Bissau last month, is currently ranked 40th in the world, down from 35th in the previous ranking released in December.

Nigeria was the fifth-ranked team in Africa, below FIFA World Cup semifinalists Morocco, African champions Senegal, Tunisia, and Cameroon. But in the latest ranking, Egypt has overtaken Nigeria and climbed into fifth place. Cameroon also fell three places, from fourth to seventh.

World champions Argentina moved to the summit, supplanting South American rivals, Brazil. FIFA, in a release, said, "Six years after last topping the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, Argentina (1st, plus 1) are once again at the summit of world football.

"Recent friendly wins against Panama (2-0) and Curaçao (7-0) helped the world champions dethrone Brazil (3rd, minus 2), who paid a high price for defeat in their friendly against Morocco (2-1)."

The release also revealed that the Central African Republic have been the most improved side since the last ranking. "However, the most improved side in this edition are Central African Republic (122nd, plus 10).

"By twice beating Madagascar, at the time ranked 30 places above them, Les Fauves du Bas-Oubangui rose 10 places in the global standings, outperforming other notable movers such as Namibia (106th, plus 7), Malaysia (138th, plus 7) and The Gambia (120th, plus 6)."

The Super Eagles will have the chance to improve their ranking in June when they travel to Freetown to face Sierra Leone in a continuation of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.

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