The Super Eagles’ inability to go beyond the group stage at Russia 2018 World Cup has seen Nigeria slump on the latest FIFA global soccer rankings, from 48th last month to 49 in the world and sixth in Africa.
This comes after the Eagles exited the World Cup at the group stages, where they won one and lost three of their games.
However, despite failing to win a single game at the World Cup, Tunisia remain Africa’s best-ranked team in 24th place, same with Senegal, while Congo DR, Ghana and Morocco complete the top five ranked countries on the continent.
Tunisia, though, dropped three places on the ranking, while Senegal gained three behind to inch up on the North Africans.
Russia 2018 champions France moved to the top of the rankings following their World Cup triumph, with Belgium, Brazil, Croatia and Uruguay occupying the other top five positions.
A new formula was used for the rankings following approval from the FIFA Council in June after a lengthy period of testing.
This relies on adding/subtracting points won or lost for a game to/from the previous point totals rather than averaging game points over a given time period as in the previous version of the Ranking.
France are back as the best footballing nation in the world, after winning their second world title in July, and now ranked number one, with losing finalists, Croatia rewarded for their impressive performances in Russia, as they moved16 places to fourth.
Semi-finalists, Belgium and England occupy second and fifth respectively, with Brazil dropping to third.
Egypt are the worst movers, dropping 20 places to 65 in the world, while 2018 World Cup hosts, Russia take the best movers award, moving 21 places to 49th.
The top 10 African countries are Tunisia (24), Senegal (24), Congo DR (37), Ghana (45), Morocco (46), Cameroon (47), Nigeria (49), Burkina Faso (52), Mali (63), Cape Verde (64).
