FIFA Ranks Nigeria 31st In November
- Super Eagles up by 4 spots
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – Following their impressive showing in the on-going 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, Nigeria’s Super Eagles have moved up by four spots on the FIFA November ranking
With the development, the three time Nations Cup champions are now placed 31st on the world football governing body’s rating chart.
According to information on the FIFA website, Nigeria amassed a total of 1493 points compared to the 1481 points it garnered in October.
Despite its new points haul, Nigeria still retained the third position on the continent behind Senegal and Tunisia who are currently placed 20th and 27th on the global stage with 1555 and 1506 points respectively.
The Eagles’ upward surge comes on the heels of their 2-1 win over Benin Republic and 4-2 win over Lesotho in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches.
However, the picture on the international chart remained unchanged as the world’s top five teams retained their places.
But the global ranking witnessed a slight change in the top ten, with Croatia, up by one to 6th place, climbing for the second successive edition at the expense of Portugal that went down one spot to 7th position.
On the other hand, more noticeable changes were recorded further down the table, with Italy (13th, up 2), Poland (19th, up 2), Serbia (29th, up 4) and Nigeria (31st, up 4) all pushing their way upwards.
Interestingly, also making an impression on the FIFA ranking is World Cup ‘Qatar 2022’ qualifiers in Asia, Myanmar (136th, up 11). The Asians are the only team to have advanced more than ten positions, having done so thanks to impressive wins over Nepal (170th, down 3), Tajikistan (121st, down 5) and Mongolia (190th, down 4).
Similarly, Kuwait (147th, up 9) also made an impressive surge on the FIFA ranking following their fine form in the Qatar 2022 preliminary results.
Another success story of the FIFA November edition rating is Venezuela (25th, up 1). Though their move looks quite modest, the La Vinotinto have now achieved their highest position since the ranking was introduced in 1993.
This is largely courtesy of their recent victory in an international friendly over Japan whose position at number 28th remained unchanged on the FIFA table. – With agency reports
