Nigeria climb nine places in FIFA ranking
The Super Eagles have moved up in the February edition of FIFA’s monthly world ranking, in spite of Nigeria’s inability to qualify for the just-ended 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon.
In the ranking released yesterday by the world football governing body, Nigeria moved up nine spots to place 41st from its 50th place last month.
This was after garnering 686 points, as against 619 it had in January.
But in spite of the movement, the Super Eagles still remain the 7th team in Africa though there are changes in the first six places.
The Pharaohs of Egypt now ranked 23, plus 12 in the world are now the highest-ranked African team, while AFCON semi-finalists Burkina Faso who are 38th in the world are placed 6th in Africa.
Burkina Faso are behind Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia and Congo DR respectively.
Cameroon’s victory at the AFCON final helped them climb 29 places into 33rd position.
The most significant changes for the February edition of the FIFA world ranking are by virtue of matches played at the 2017 AFCON.
However, the aforementioned moves for teams at Gabon 2017 were not the only results from a tournament which meant positive ranking results for nations.
Honduras (65, plus 10) and El Salvador (114, plus 24) enjoyed substantial gains, thanks to their performances at the 2017 Copa Centroamericana held from Jan. 13 to Jan. 22.
But, in spite of the many successes from the Americas and Africa over the preceding weeks, the composition of the top five teams remains unchanged for the February ranking.
Argentina (1), Brazil (2), Germany (3), Chile (4) and Belgium (5) hold on to their positions, while France (6, plus 1) move past Colombia (7, minus 1).