Nigeria’s Super Eagles dropped a place in the latest monthly FIFA rankings released on Thursday.
The world soccer governing body has released the latest ranking for September 2023 with Nigeria’s Super Eagles dropping out African Top 5.
The Jose Peseiro tutored side slipped from the 39th position to the 40th place. In Africa the Super Eagles are ranked 6th behind Morocco (1st), Senegal (2nd), Tunisia (3rd), Algeria (4th, Egypt (5th) while Cameroon (7th), Mali (8th),Ivory Coast 9th and Burkina Faso completing the top 10th.
Jose Peseiro’s side thrashed Sao Tome and Principe 6-0 in their last fixture, but the result didn’t have any positive effect on their position on the ranking table.
The Eagles’ 2026 FIFA World Cup Group C qualifying opponents Lesotho, billed to face Eagles in November, did not fare much better either dropping to 152 on the ladder. If ranking were to translate to results on the pitch, it will be taken for granted that Eagles will make mincemeat of Lesotho when they come visiting in November.
South Africa and Benin Republic dropped to 65 and 94 places, respectively, while Zimbabwe stayed at 125 and Rwanda also remained at 139.
Also, Saudi Arabia, who will play the Eagles in a friendly in October, dropped to 57 spot.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 26 October.
Fifa World Cup winner Argentina tighten their grip at the summit of the ranking, to remain the number one football nation in the world, Second place France lost some ground on Argentina after suffering a 2-1 friendly defeat against Germany.
Meanwhile, Brazil (3rd), England (4th) and Belgium (5th) retain their places in a top five that remains unchanged from the July 2023 edition of the global ranking.
The leading pack are followed by Croatia (6th), the Netherlands (7th) and Portugal (8th), the only team amongst the top ten to climb a position.
Italy (9th) slipped a spot after being held to a 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia in the sides’ UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier. The top-ten line-up is completed by Spain.
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