FIFA RANKING: Super Eagles Overtaken by Cote d’Ivoire
Femi Solaja with agency report
AFCON 2023 champions, Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire have overtaken the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the current ranking released by FIFA yesterday. With the spate of poor results from the ongoing World Cup qualifying tournament, Nigeria dropped from 38th to 39th position and now rank fifth in the continent.
There has been a steady drop in the Eagles’ ranking lately following dismal post-AFCON 2023 performances.
Most appalling is the fact that Super Eagles have not won any World Cup qualifying match since their 2-0 defeat of Liberia on 13 November 2021.
They have since gone seven matches without winning any. In contrast, Morocco continue to hold on tenaciously to the first position in the continent.
Nigeria moved 14 places up to 28th position in the world after AFCON in February but since suffered a decline in the last three consecutive rankings.
The Super Eagles were not in action in July, but teams in Europe and South America were in action, as the Copa America and Euro Championships took place.
Argentina emerged as champions of the Copa America while Spain were champions of the Euros. The result showed that the Abiceleste maintained their place at the peak of the rankings. Spain’s victory at the Euros also saw them move five places up to third in the World.
Other African teams also dropped because of their lack of action. Morocco dropped two spots to 14th, Senegal dropped one spot to 19th, and Cote d’Ivoire dropped one spot to 38th.
The top ten teams in the world include; Argentina, France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia, and Portugal while while the top ten teams in Africa are: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, and South Africa.
