AFCON 2025
Nigeria’s Super Eagles have fallen four places to 30th in the latest FIFA men’s world ranking, released on Wednesday, October 7. The three-time African champions sat 26th in the previous rankings and now hold 1,567.97 points after a mixed international window.
The slump also costs Nigeria ground in Africa. Eric Chelle’s side dropped from fourth to sixth on the continent, and Algeria, now 28th, and Côte d’Ivoire, 29th, have both moved ahead of them. Morocco lead Africa in seventh place worldwide, followed by Senegal in 18th and Egypt in 25th. DR Congo, Cameroon, Mali and South Africa complete the continental top ten.
Three results drove the fall. Nigeria opened the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers window with a 2-1 home win over Madagascar before suffering a 3-0 away loss to Guinea-Bissau. That defeat did the most damage, and Guinea-Bissau climbed eight places on the back of it. The Super Eagles closed the window with a 3-3 friendly draw against Russia in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday, a lively result that could not stop the decline.
The four-place fall is Nigeria’s biggest since November 2024, when the team dropped eight places. It also reverses the progress Nigeria made earlier in the year, when they finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
At the top of the world table, Spain remain first with 2,011.57 points, ahead of Argentina, France and England. Portugal have moved up to fifth.
Chelle’s side now have until the next FIFA update on November 18 to start winning points back. The Guinea-Bissau result leaves them with ground to make up when the AFCON qualifiers resume in November when the Super Eagles will take on Tanzania in a double-header.
