Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, have enjoyed a meteoric rise in the new FIFA world rankings following their impressive outing at the just-concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The ranking, which was released on Friday, five days after the conclusion of the Mundial in Australia and New Zealand, sees the nine-time Africa champions move eight spots upwards from 40th to 32nd, as they remain the top team from Africa.
However, it was not just the Super Falcons that changed places, as the other trio of Africa’s contingent to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup also enjoyed positive positional changes.
South Africa moved from 54th to 45th to remain second on the continent; Women’s World Cup debutants Morocco moved from 72nd to 58th and from seventh in Africa to fourth; likewise, Zambia moved from 77th in the world to 69th and from ninth on the continent to seventh.
Nigeria, Banyana Banyana, and the Atlas Lionesses all made history in Oceania as they all made it out of the group stages, making it the first time three African teams progressed to the knockout phase of the Mundial. Despite the Cooper Queens failure to make it out of a tough group, they defeated Costa Rica 3-1 to win their first ever game at a Women’s World Cup.
Some big changes also occurred at the top of the ranking as the four-time Women’s World Cup champions, the United States, were kicked out of the top-two spots, making it the first time in history they wouldn’t be occupying the first or second position and bringing an end to their six-year dominance at the top of the FIFA world rankings.
The USWNT have surrendered their top spot to Sweden, whom they lost to in the round of 16 on penalties. The Swedes move two places higher from third to first place in the world in women’s football, while the USWNT are now third.
Newly-crowned world champions Spain now occupies the second spot following their historic triumph, jumping four spots. England remains fourth despite the final loss to La Roja; France stays put in fifth, while Germany drops to sixth following their disappointing group stage exit.
The Netherlands moved from ninth to seventh; 2011 world champions Japan moved into the top ten spot for the first time since June 2021, occupying the eighth spot; Brazil moved a spot down from eighth to ninth; and reigning Olympic champions Canada slipped into tenth from seventh to complete the top ten places of the new ranking.
Women’s World Cup co-hosts Australia and New Zealand faced contrasting outcomes as the Matildas dropped out of the top ten ranking from tenth to eleventh, while the Football Ferns remained unchanged at 26.
