By Albert Akota
Nigeria stayed in 47th spot in the latest FIFA rankings released yesterday, a result of their goalless draw with Mexico in last week’s international friendly.
The Super Eagles continue to be the seventh ranked team in Africa behind Cote D’Ivoire, Algeria, Egypt, Cape Verde Islands, Ghana and Tunisia. Cameroon is the only World Cup-bound African team that is ranked below the Eagles in eighth place.
Nigeria’s other World Cup Group F opponents are ranked higher, with Argentina being the third best ranked in the world while Bosnia-Herzegovina is in 21st spot and Iran is 42nd.
Spain continues to be the top ranked team in the world followed closely by Germany, while Portugal and Colombia retain the fourth and fifth spots.
Ranking has seen somewhat less movement than last month, with Spain, Germany, Argentina, Portugal and Colombia remaining unchanged in the top five spots.
Close behind them are Uruguay (6th, up 1) and Switzerland (7th, down 1), while Belgium (10th, up 1) have jumped up into the top ten at the expense of the Netherlands (11th, down 1). Meanwhile England (12th, up 3) and Russia (19th, up 3) have made good progress in the top 20.
Further down the table, Egypt is on the up. Their friendly victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina (21st, down 4) and the devaluation of last year’s defeat by Qatar have helped them climb 12 positions to 26th.
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