Julius Okorie
After unimpressive run in the last set of World Cup qualifiers leading to the exit of former Super Eagles Coach, Finidi George, the team has dropped one step in the latest FIFA world ranking.
Super Eagles prior to this time were occupying a lowly 38th position in the world rather that improve, slipped one step down the ladder again to 39th position.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Three time African Champions who missed their fourth title by whiskers at the last AFCON hosted by Cote d Ivoire however retained their 5th position in Africa with Morocco leading the pack in Africa.
The top three nations still remain unchanged on the continent, with Morocco (14) top ahead of Senegal (19) and Egypt (36) respectively.
Cote d Ivoire who appear to have pushed Nigeria off the 38th position after winning the AFCON title are 38th on the latest rankings placing them fourth in Africa.
Completing the top 10 in Africa are Tunisia (41), Algeria (46), Cameroon (51),Mali (53) and South Africa (57) who moved up two places from their previous 55th place in the world in that order.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Finidi George Resigns As Super Eagles Coach
The greatest climbers in the world remain Venezuela who moved up 17 places to their present 37th position overtaking Cote d Ivoire, Nigeria and Canada respectively while Czechia recorded the biggest slip 13 places down to their present 47th position.
The update in rankings comes after the conclusion of the recent international competitions, the European Championships in Germany and the Copa America in USA.
World Cup champions Argentina deservedly retained their number one position in the world and further consolidating at the top with defence of their Copa America title after beating Colombia in Miami at last weekend.
France who failed to shine at the just concluded Euro championship occupy the second position on the log.
However, Spain, the Euro 2024 champions, won the most points and moved up from fifth to third, ahead of England and Brazil in the top five.
Completing the top 10 in the world are Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy who failed to defend their 2020 Euro championship win at the 2024 edition crashing out in the last 16 after losing 2-0 to Switzerland.
The next FIFA world ranking will be released on September 19, 2024.
Eagles Need To Buckle Up For Other World Cup Qualifiers
Implications of the current ranking is that there is a long way to go for the Eagles, even as the NFF still continues the search for Finidi George replacement.
The next set of World Cup qualifiers will take place from March next year and should the search for new coach take eternity, the team will end up not making full use of FIFA window to play shape friendly up enough for the next round of qualifiers.
The Eagles drew 1-1 against South Africa in their fourth game of the qualifiers and lost 2-1 to the Benin Republic in the following match.
The Eagles will flag of the next stage with away encounter against Amavubi of Rwanda on March 25, 2025.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
