FIFA year-end rankings : Super Eagles suffer third consecutive drop

Football governing body, Fifa, on Thursday, December 22 published its year-end rankings of national teams, four days after the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup.

The Super Eagles fell three spots to number 35 in the global rankings, a drop that makes the team coached by Jose Peseiro the fifth-ranked African side. 

This is the third consecutive time that Nigeria have fallen in the rankings as they occupied 31st position on August 25, 2022 and 32nd on October 6, 2022.

Our rivals to book a ticket to the 2023 AFCON in the shape of Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe are ranked 116th, 118th and 186th respectively.

Missing the 2022 World Cup didn't do the Super Eagles any favors as they were inactive and another reason for their decline is the scandalous 4-0 defeat suffered at the hands of Portugal on November 17.

2022 World Cup Cinderella team Morocco (11th), Senegal (19th), Tunisia (30th) and Cameroon (33rd) complete the top five African teams in that order. 

Brazil top the rankings,newly crowned world champions Argentina are second, followed by France, Belgium and England. 

The next world ranking will be published by the official website of FIFA on 6 April 2023.

Igho Kingsley 

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