Nigeria Suffers Worst Drop in FIFA Rankings

Though the Super Eagles recorded a 2-0 win over Chad in the period under review, it did not in any way help the ranking of the three-time African champions who now occupy 10th position on the continent. Algeria, who are 19th in the world,remain the highest ranked team in Africa while Ivory Coast, Ghana Tunisia , Senegal , Cameroon, Congo, Cape Verde and Egypt are all placed above Nigeria. Meanwhile, Argentina are the new top team on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Despite losing to Chile on penalties in the final of the Copa América, the Albiceleste have leapfrogged over Belgium and Germany to take the top spot in the world ranking for the first time in seven years.

As explained by FIFA, the volatility of the ranking this month is due in part to the many matches that have been played: with 26 Copa América matches, 99 qualifying matches for the World Cup or continental tournaments, and 88 friendlies, the number of matches taken into account has almost doubled the amount for the year so far (477 matches in total). The world football governing body said that the other reason is that the matches from last year’s World Cup have been devalued.