Nigeria’s Super Eagles have dropped one place in Africa in the latest FIFA men’s world rankings released on Monday, although they retained their 26th position globally.
Gatekeepers News reports that the three-time African champions fell to fourth on the continent after Egypt climbed five places following the Pharaohs’ run to the Round of 16 at the recently concluded FIFA World Cup.
Nigeria did not participate in the tournament after failing to qualify among the 10 African teams that featured at the competition.
Morocco remain Africa’s highest-ranked team, holding sixth place in the world rankings. The Atlas Lions are now just one position away from matching the highest-ever FIFA ranking achieved by an African nation—a feat set by Nigeria when the Super Eagles reached fifth in the world in April 1994.
Senegal maintained second place in Africa, while Egypt moved into third ahead of Nigeria. Algeria completed the continent’s top five.
At the top of the global rankings, Spain replaced Argentina as the world’s number one team after defeating the South Americans 1-0 on Sunday to win their second FIFA World Cup title.
France remained third in the rankings, with England holding on to fourth place. Brazil climbed to fifth, while Portugal dropped two places to seventh.
FIFA said the next update to the men’s world rankings will be released on October 7.
