Nigeria drop by one spot to 34th on latest FIFA ranking

Nneka Nwogwugwu

Nigeria have dropped by one spot in the FIFA ranking for September, placing 34th on the ranking table.

In the ranking table on the world football governing body’s website on Thursday, Nigeria garnered 1, 482 points in the month under review as against 1,481 it had in August.

However, in spite of the drop by a spot, Nigeria still occupy the third position on the continent behind Senegal and Tunisia who have 1,546 and 1,493 respectively.

On the global scene, Belgium remain top of the FIFA World Ranking after an action-packed number of weeks in international football.

In the period under review, 78 friendlies, 74 continental qualifiers and 60 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ qualifiers took place.

Although the teams in the top 10 remain unchanged, there have been some movements.

France (second, up 1) and Brazil (third, down 1) have traded places, while Spain (seventh, up 2) are the top 10’s biggest movers.

The Cayman Islands (193rd, up 11) and Grenada (160th, up 13) are the joint-biggest climbers by points, reaping the rewards after their successful showing in the CONCACAF Nations League.

Indeed, Grenada’s 13-place surge means that they are September’s highest climber by ranks.

Other notable upwardly-mobile nations include Jamaica (47th, up 5), who have broken into the top 50.

Others are the Republic of Ireland (28th, up 4), Russia (42nd, up 4), Guatemala (133rd, up 11), Suriname (142nd, up 9), Montserrat (187th, up 9) and Djibouti (186th, up 9).

Djibouti recently overcame Eswatini (150th, down 11) over two legs to advance to the second round of Africa’s World Cup qualifying for just the second time.

Meanwhile, Kosovo (119th, up 1) have been rewarded for their impressive performances in UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying by reaching their best-ever position in the FIFA ranking.

The Cook Islands are not ranked in the latest standings due to not playing an international “A” match in the last four years.

After their next international “A” match, they will be included in the ranking table again with their points total from July 2019, plus/minus the points won or lost in the new match.

(NAN)