FIFA rankings: Eagles drop to 6th in Africa, rise to 43rd globally
The Super Eagles have witnessed a rise and fall in the first FIFA rankings of 2025, dropping a place to sixth in Africa but moving up one spot to 43rd in the world, NewsNGR Sports Extra reports.
Nigeria surrendered the fifth place in Africa to the reigning Africa Cup of Nations winners, Ivory Coast but still managed to move up in the global rankings owing to Romania’s drop in the latest rankings.
This is on the heels of their two matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, where they recorded one win and one draw.
Nigeria defeated Rwanda 2-0 at the Amahoro Stadium, Kigali, before a late equaliser denied them another victory against Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo.
As a result of these matches, Nigeria got their ranking with a total point of 1481.35, six points behind Ivory Coast.
In the World Cup qualifying series, the Super Eagles are still in fourth place in their group, facing the possibility of missing out on the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico – potentially the second consecutive time the three-time African champions would find themselves in that situation.
Meanwhile, Morocco maintained their spot as the highest-ranked team in Africa and also moved up to 12th globally.
Senegal (19th), Egypt (32nd), Algeria (36th), and Ivory Coast (41st) rounded out Africa’s top five.
Globally, Argentina remained top thanks to impressive wins over Uruguay and Brazil in the World Cup qualifiers as well.
Spain sit second in the rankings while France occupy the third position. England are fourth, while Brazil is fifth, completing the top five.
According to FIFA, Myanmar were the biggest climber, moving up seven places to 162nd while Guinea-Bissau had the biggest drop, eight places, falling to 128th.
Bosnia and Herzegovina scored the most points (+24.16), while Iraq lost the most (-29.46).
FIFA has also said via its website that the next FIFA rankings will be released on July 10 after the second men’s international window of the year.
