The Super Eagles of Nigeria suffered the biggest drop in the latest rankings announced by world football governing body FIFA on Thursday.
The three-time African champions dropped eight places in the latest rankings, now occupying the 44th spot in the world with 1482.23 total points, a big contrast from the previous rankings released in October, where they amassed 1503.29 points.
The Super Eagles also dropped one spot in Africa, moving into fifth place on the continent, following poor results in their final two fixtures in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, where they drew Benin Republic and lost at home to Rwanda.
FIFA reported that a total of 192 international matches were played in the month of November, with games across the AFCON qualifiers, UEFA, and CONCACAF Nations League, as well as 2026 World Cup qualifiers across the AFC, CONMEBOL, and OFC regions.
Nigeria now sits behind the quartet of Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, and Algeria in Africa, but the Super Falcons are not the only top side on the continent that dropped points, as both Morocco (14th) and Egypt (33rd) regressed one spot and three spots, respectively.
Algeria, however, remained unmoved as they occupy the 37th spot in the world, while Senegal moved up three places to 17th.
Ivory Coast remains sixth in Africa but dropped six places in the world ranking to 46; Cameroon (49th) maintained their position in the world but moved up to seventh in Africa as Tunisia dropped five spots to 52nd in the world and ninth on the continent.
Mali, now eighth in Africa, witnessed a three-spot rise into 51st, while South Africa moved back into the top 10 on the continent, having moved up three places in the world rankings to 57th.
The biggest leap in the ranking goes to Niger, who added more points (31.23) and rose more ranks (9) than anyone else to now occupy the 122nd spot in the world, aided by back-to-back wins against Sudan and Ghana in their AFCON qualifying campaign, while following closely are Zambia (87th, up 7) and Comoros (103rd, up 5), who attained their highest-ever ranking.
Meanwhile, at the summit, the top five teams all held on to their previous positions, with Argentina (1st) still on top, but their lead over France (2nd) and Spain (3rd) has once again taken a hit. England (4th) and Brazil (5th) also retained their positions, while Portugal (6th, up 1) has overtaken Belgium, who dropped two spots to eighth.
The Netherlands climb up a spot into seventh, while Italy (9th) is unmoved as Germany breaks into the prestigious top 10 in world football after moving up a place with Uruguay (11th, up 1) knocking on the door.
The football apex body, FIFA, also revealed that the next world ranking will be published midway through December 2024.
