Nigeria has risen in the latest FIFA World Rankings released this week.
Super Eagles are now ranked 41st in the world, moving up four places from their previous position. They also climbed to fifth in Africa.
The improvement follows Nigeria’s recent performances in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where the team secured crucial results against Lesotho and Benin Republic.
FIFA’s ranking system is based on several factors including match results, the strength of the opponent, the importance of the competition, and regional weighting.
Every official match whether a friendly, qualifier, or tournament fixture affects the total points accumulated by a national team.
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Morocco remains the highest-ranked African team, sitting 12th globally despite dropping one position.
Senegal holds on to 18th place and remains second in Africa. Egypt has climbed to 32nd, taking third spot on the continent, while Algeria follows closely in 34th place.
Nigeria’s playoff opponent, Gabon, is currently ranked 77th in the world and 15th in Africa.
Gabon has recorded only two losses in its last 12 matches across all competitions.
The other teams involved in the CAF World Cup playoffs include Cameroon and DR Congo, ranked 54th and 60th respectively.
With Nigeria’s ranking a victory in the CAF playoff round would allow the Super Eagles to advance directly to the intercontinental final skipping the semifinal stage.
