Super Eagles Maintain 39th Spot in September FIFA Ranking

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Nigeria’s Super Eagles maintained their 39th spot in the September FIFA Ranking released on Thursday afternoon by the world football governing body.

The three-time African champions dropped just a spot to now be ranked  in the sixth place in the continental grading for the month behind African football powers;  Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, and Tunisia.

Ranked behind Nigeria in the African Top 10 include; Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the 7th to 10th placement. 

In the period under review, Super Eagles defeated Benin Republic 3-0 in an AFCON 2025 qualifier in Uyo and were held goalless in Kigali by Rwanda. Nigeria saw a marginal drop in points, losing 0.91, taking them from 1498.93 to 1498.02.

Super Eagles 2026 World Cup qualifying group rivals, South Africa are ranked outside the Top 10 in the 11th spot while Nigeria’s subregional arch rivals Black Stars of Ghana are ranked in lowly 14th spot. The Ghanaians are having a bad patch following their AFCON 2025 qualifying round defeat by Angola and draw to Niger Republic.

At the global level, there was no change in the Top 10 as  Argentina are holding to the top spot, with France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia, and Italy occupying the places.

Nigeria will have a busy time ahead next month as the Super Eagles battle Libya back-to-back in the AFCON 2025 qualifiers.

The next FIFA rankings are due to be released on October 24, 2024