Despite this recent improvement in the latest FIFA ranking, the Stephen Keshi-led lads are sixth best on the continent behind Cote d’Ivoire
Browsing: FIFA ranking
In the ranking table on the world governing body’s Website on Thursday, Nigeria has 620 points as against 616 points and 47th position it occupied last month
The Stephen Keshi-led team last month dropped six places from 41 but has maintained its 47th position after playing out a 1-1 draw with the El Tri of Mexico
Nigeria is now sixth on the continent, with Africa’s minnow and Nations Cup debutant, Cape Verde, taking over the fifth spot
On the global scene, Spain maintained the first spot, ahead of Germany, Argentina and Colombia, who also maintained the second, third and fourth spots respectively
The Stephen Keshi-tutored team still lagged behind Didier Drogba’s Cote d’ Ivoire, who are first in Africa and 17th in the world, while the Black Stars of Ghana and Atlas Lions of Algeria are third and fourth best team respectively
Meanwhile, the Stephen Keshi-lads are ranked fourth behind The
Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire, who are first in Africa and 17th in the
world, while Ghana and Algeria are second and third
The Eagles, however, moved one step up at the continental level from number five in Africa to the fourth position. With her fourth position placing, the Eagles would go into next Monday’s playoffs draw in Cairo, Egypt as one of the seeded teams
“Don’t forget that we failed to qualify for the Nations cup in 2012, which affected our ranking, but the technical crew has performed well to get us where we are
The Coach Stephen Keshi-led team move three places to occupy the 28 spot in the world, just as they are fourth on the continent behind Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mali
However, Colombia have assumed outright sixth place on the global ladder – a position they shared with Portugal, who dropped a spot
But by claiming their third title, Nigeria (30th, up 22) have not only ended a 19-year drought since they last won the tournament, but have also climbed 22 places to 30th – their best ranking since August 2010 – while beaten finalists, Burkina Faso (55th, up 37), have moved up a massive 37 places to 55th. Hosts South Africa (60th, up 25) have also enjoyed a significant leap of 25 places