Three-time African champions, the Super Eagles, moved up a spot in the monthly FIFA ranking despite its absence from the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations that ended last Sunday in Equatorial Guinea.
Super Eagles is now ranked 42nd in the world and seventh in Africa after accumulating 664 points.
Despite not playing any graded match, the home-based Eagles played two friendly matches last month in Dubai, losing 0-1 to Cote d’ Ivoire and beating Yemen 2-0, with the matches aimed at making up for the team’s inactivity in January.
Meanwhile, African Cup of Nations’ champions, Ivory Coast, return to the top 20 in FIFA’s world rankings.
Ivory Coast have returned to the top 20 of FIFA’s world rankings for the first time in a year following their Africa Cup of Nations triumph.
A 9-8 penalty shootout victory over Ghana last weekend ensured Herve Renard’s side climbed eight places in the rankings to 20th, making them the second-highest African team behind Algeria, who are ranked 18th.
With no movement inside the top seven, the changes came further down the rankings from nations involved in the AFCON and Asian Cup.
Beaten AFCON finalists, Ghana, moved up to 25th – a jump of 12 places – but it is the tournament hosts who made the biggest climb.
Equatorial Guinea stepped in at the last minute to host the competition in place of Morocco and after reaching the semi-finals they now occupy their highest ever ranking position of 49th.
World champions, Germany, still top the rankings, with Argentina and Colombia completing the top three.