Nigeria drop to 35 in latest FIFA rankings

Nigeria dropped down to 35th position in the latest FIFA Coca-Cola world rankings following a lacklustre display in November that saw them end the year without a win.

The rankings released by the world football body on Friday showed that Nigeria dropped three places from the 32nd position in November.

The Super Eagles dropped three places from their previous position, following a poor performance against Sierra Leone in their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures.
They also dropped from number three to four in Africa.

Gernot Rohr’s men squandered a four-goal lead to tie the Leone Stars 4-4 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, Edo State, in the first of their double-header qualifiers on November 13.

Four days later, the three-time African champions were held 0-0 in Freetown by their less-fancied opponents.

Nigeria still top Group L with eight points after four games, but the results delayed their qualification for the continental showpiece in Cameroon.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone are among the biggest movers on the continent as they climbed four places to 116th in the world.

Senegal moved up one spot to 20th in the world and are number one in Africa.

Tunisia remained second on the continent and 26th globally while reigning African champions Algeria dropped one spot to 31st and third in Africa.

According to the latest ranking, Equatorial Guinea and Burundi are the biggest movers in Africa climbing 10 spots after avoiding defeats in their AFCON qualifying games.

In the global rankings, Belgium retained their number one spot, with France and Brazil occupying the second and third positions.

England and Portugal completed the top five positions.

The next FIFA rankings, the last for 2020, will be announced on December 10.

Source: punchng.com