Nigeria’s Super Eagles risk the chance of being drawn against the Pharaohs of Egypt, following the ranking adjustment made by the World football governing body, FIFA, on Tuesday.
The Egyptians now rank 45th in the world and fifth on the continent behind Algeria, Cote d’ Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal.
The seven-time African Cup of Nations winners toppled their northern counterparts, Tunisia, to move to the fifth spot.
All the top five countries on the continent would be seeded for the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers draw on Friday.
Twenty teams will be drawn into five groups of four teams each to play on home and away basis from October 2016 to November 2017, with the overall winners advancing to the World Cup.
The qualifiers include Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Mali, Guinea, Cape Verde and Cameroon.
Nigeria have qualified for five World Cups previously – 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014.
They reached the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014.
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