FIFA RANKING
Brazil extend lead in world rankings, Spain drop below Italy
In the last change to the FIFA World Rankings before the World Cup starts next month, Brazil increased their lead at the top and Spain dropped below Italy.
Brazil, the only team to have competed in every World Cup finals, will go into next month’s tournament in Qatar seeking a record-extending sixth crown.
They will do so with a bigger lead at the top of the rankings after friendly wins over Ghana and Tunisia widened the gap on second-placed Belgium who lost to the Netherlands in the Nations League.
Brazil’s great rivals Argentina remained third, with world champions France fourth and Euro 2020 runners-up England fifth.
There was good news for Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup finals again, as they climbed above Spain into sixth place.
Other World Cup-bound teams climbing the rankings were Croatia, up three places to 12th, Iran up two spots to 20th and Serbia who rose to 21st.
-Reuters
Cote d’ivoire have overtaken the Nigeria Super Eagles in the current ranking released by FIFA on Thursday morning. Nigeria dropped from 38 to 39th position and ranks fifth position. There has been a steady drop in the team’s ranking lately following dismal post Afcon 2023 performances.
Most appalling is the fact that the team has not won any World Cup qualifying match since their 2-0 defeat of Liberia on 13 November 2021.
They have since gone seven matches without winning any. In contrast, Morocco continues to hold on tenaciously to the first position in the continent.
Overall, Argentina bounced into the first position in the world after their last weekend’s triumph in the Copa America. Newly crowned European champions Spain rose to third position.
The dismal performances of the Nigeria national team, Super Eagles have reflected in the current FIFA ranking released this Thursday.
Nigeria dropped eight steps down the ladder from 30th position to 38th. They are also fifth in the continent as Morocco and Senegal hold on tenaciously to the top two positions.
The two World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic which the Super Eagles bungled may have been responsible for the big plunge.
The 2-0 loss to Mali last week in Morocco may have caused the Super Eagles to drop from last month’s 28th position to 30th as the latest FIFA ranking was released Thursday morning.
But despite the drop in global ranking, the Super Eagles are still third in Africa behind Morocco and Senegal.
The Nigeria versus Mali match was just one of the 174 games at the last international window. Nigeria played two matches, one of which Nigeria won one, a 2-1 defeat of their traditional rivals, the Black Stars of Ghana.
According to a press release by FIFA, the matches, played all over the world had a significant effect on the current World Ranking, most notably within the top ten.
Argentina (1st) continue to lead the way ahead of France (2nd), but Belgium (3rd, up 1) have returned to the podium at the expense of England (4th, down 1). Brazil (5th) complete the top five, but Portugal (6th, up 1) are now knocking on the door. The Netherlands (7th, down 1) have slipped one place, whereas Spain (8th), Italy (9th) and Croatia (10th) have all held on to their positions.
The USA (11th, up 2), Colombia (12th, up 2), Ukraine (22nd, up 2) and Poland (28th, up 2) have all made progress up the ranking, as have Czechia (36th, up 4), Palestine (93rd, up 4) and Kyrgyz Republic (100th, up 4), all of whom have taken the biggest strides among the top 100 teams.
It is outside of the top 100, however, that the biggest movers are to be found. Libya (114th, up 6) and Afghanistan (151st, up 7) have made impressive progress, but it is Indonesia (134th, up 8) who are the biggest climbers on the back of their two victories over Vietnam during FIFA World Cup 26 qualifiers.
Finally, the performances of Qatar (34th, up 3) and Comoros (117th, up 4) are also worthy of mention as both teams are now currently in their highest-ever position in the ranking.
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