By Adedapo Adesanya
The Super Eagles of Nigeria have moved up three places in the latest rankings by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), soaring to 36th in the global order.
Nigeria who defeated Libya by a lone goal in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier earlier in the month are now fourth on the continental rankings.
On the overall continental rankings, the Atlas Lions of Morocco led Africa. They are 13th in the world and followed by Senegal who are 20th.
Egypt (30th), Nigeria (36th), and Algeria (37th) complete the top five teams on the continent.
“There is further cause for celebration for Africa as two other CAF teams have climbed the most places (10) in this edition of the ranking, namely Comoros (108th) and Sudan (110th), who came out on top against Tunisia and Ghana, respectively, in their recent home-and-away duels as part of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 qualifiers,” FIFA wrote on its website while announcing the latest rankings on Thursday.
Recall that the Super Eagles were recently held hostage by Libya, in a development that saw the players left stranded for over 15 hours in the North African country.
So far, no conclusion has come from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) regarding the issue.
On the global scene, Argentina still occupy the top spot and are followed by France.
Spain took the third position while England, Brazil, and Belgium make up the top six in that order.
Portugal are number seven, the Netherlands are eighth, Italy claimed ninth and Colombia are 10th on the global rankings.
Some of the biggest movers in the latest rankings include Algeria (37th, up 4), Peru (38th, up 5) and Greece (42nd, up 6).
Cameroon also returned to the top 50, moving up four places to take the 49th position globally.
The October 2024 rankings came days after a busy month across the world with teams vying for places for the 2026 World Cup, and Africa Cup of Nations.
“Thirty-two qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 26, 47 for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2025, 79 Nations League matches and 17 friendlies were played during the recent international window, making October 2024 a particularly busy month of football and one that has led to a number of changes in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking,” FIFA said.
Dipo Olowookere