FIFA Ranking: Super Eagles drop to 30th, fall to sixth in Africa

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have dropped four places in the latest FIFA Men’s World Ranking, falling from 26th to 30th in the world and sixth in Africa.

The October ranking, released on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, shows Nigeria with 1,567.97 points, a decline of 17.05 points from the previous 1,585.02.

The slide means Nigeria have surrendered their position among Africa’s top five, with Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire moving ahead of the three-time African champions.

Nigeria began the latest international window positively, defeating Madagascar 2-1 in a 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo on September 25. However, the Super Eagles suffered a damaging 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau before ending the window with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Russia in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday.

Despite fighting back from 3-1 down against Russia, the draw was not enough to prevent Nigeria from losing ground in the ranking.

The latest African standings are led by Morocco, who occupy seventh place globally with 1,805.34 points. Senegal are second in Africa and 18th globally, followed by Egypt (25th), Algeria (28th), Côte d’Ivoire (29th) and Nigeria (30th).

Nigeria’s decline is particularly notable because Mali and South Africa climbed six places each, moving to 47th and 48th respectively, while Cameroon and DR Congo also improved their positions.

At the top of the global ranking, world champions Spain retained first place, followed by Argentina, France and England. Portugal climbed to fifth, pushing Brazil down to sixth, while Morocco became the highest-ranked African nation at seventh.