Nigeria fall to sixth in Africa, 30th globally in latest FIFA rankings

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have been ranked the 30th best men’s football nation in the world in the latest FIFA ranking released.

The latest ranking position of Eric Chelle’s team is a drop of four places from the previous 26th position following an international break in which the team struggled.

It is Nigeria’s biggest drop in position since November 2024 when the Super Eagles slid down by eight places.

Nigeria struggled to defeat Madagascar 2-1 in Uyo, conceding the first goal, before suffering an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Guinea-Bissau.

An experimental team then clawed back a two-goal deficit to claim a 3-3 draw in Russia in the last match of the September-October international break.

A negative points score continues the trend of the Super Eagles dropping ranking points for four consecutive windows.

Nigeria last gained points in January after reaching the AFCON 2025 semi-final and claiming bronze in the third-place playoff.

Nigeria also dropped to sixth position from fourth on the continent and out of the top-five nations in Africa.

Both Algeria and Ivory Coast benefitted from the drop and moved up a place each to fourth and fifth respectively.

Guinea-Bissau, the Super Eagles’ conquerors, received the highest points in the world during the period, while Cape Verde suffered the most points lost.
Portugal moved up a place to become the fifth best nation, as Morocco dropped to seventh, a place below Brazil, who dropped to sixth position. Spain, World Cup champions, Argentina, and France are the top-three nations.