Before the month-long World Cup, Nigeria was ranked 32nd in the world, and fourth in Africa, but following the failure to have qualified for the 22nd edition of the global showpiece, missing out on the party.
Super Eagles drop three places in December rankings
Worsening the Super Eagles’ stance on the December 2022 ranking was aided no thanks to their international friendly defeats before the start of the World Cup.
Nigeria suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss to Portugal in Lisbon, the Eagles’ greatest loss in the previous three decades, a few days after losing 2-0 to Costa Rica in San Jose.
However, Nigeria remains in the top five ranking of teams in Africa behind Morocco (11th), Senegal (19th), Tunisia (29th), and Cameroon (33rd).
Morocco surpassed Senegal to become the top African team in the world following their historic World Cup semi-final finish, climbing 11 places from their former 22nd position.
Argentina second behind Brazil
Meanwhile, Brazil maintained their number one rank despite getting knocked out of Qatar 2022 in the quarter-finals.
World champions Argentina move to second behind the Brazilians, following their historic penalty victory over France after an entertaining 3-3 draw.
Brazil won three games at the World Cup, lost to Cameroon and suffered a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Croatia. Argentina, meanwhile, won four games, lost one to Saudi Arabia and were twice victorious on penalties – including Sunday’s final.
France, Belgium, England, Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Spain are the other teams that made the top 10.
