12th February, 2015
Nigeria moved up one place in the latest FIFA rankings of Men’s national football teams though the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the AFCON which was hosted between January and February this year.
Compared to their ranking in the month of January, the Super Eagles climbed one spot, and have a global ranking of 42nd, while in the continental ranking, the deposed African champions are seventh despite not competing at the AFCON.
Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia and Cape Verde are the best 5 teams in Africa in that order.
The top two performers at the World Cup – Germany and Argentina – have maintained their positions in the rankings, with Colombia, Belgium and Holland completing the top five countries in the world.
2015 African Cup of Nations host Equatorial Guinea were the biggest movers, with a global rank of 49 compared to their ranking last month of 118th.
Although there has been no change at the top in the February edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, the confederation championships in Africa and Asia have produced plenty of movement.
The Africa Cup of Nations came to a thrilling conclusion last Sunday with Côte d’Ivoire (20th, up 8) edging out Ghana (25th, up 12) in a penalty shoot-out. The losing semi-finalists, Congo DR (46th, up 11) and hosts Equatorial Guinea (49th, up 69), have made huge climbs, both teams reaching the top 50 for the first time since the introduction of the ranking in the process.