Nigeria drop to 39th in FIFA ranking, Spain, England move up

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have dropped again by one spot in the FIFA World Ranking to place world 39th in the July ranking.

In the ranking table by the world football governing body, the Nigerian team still maintained the 1,498.93 it had in June.

PUNCH Online reported that Nigeria suffered a massive drop in the June ranking from 30th to 38th after lacklustre performances in the World Cup Qualifying matches.

The drop on the global stage in July however did not affect the team’s position on the continental stage as the 5th behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt and Cote d ‘Ivoire.

On the global scene, three continental competitions and a plethora of international friendlies have been served up in June and July, with no fewer than 125 matches having been contested across the globe.

Having successfully defended their CONMEBOL Copa América crown, Argentina (1st) tightens their grip at the top of the pile. France (2nd) are still their closest challengers, after reaching the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2024.

Newly crowned European champions Spain (3rd, up 5) have yet more reason to celebrate after hauling themselves into the top three of the ranking.

Recall that Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final hosted in Germany last Sunday.

England (4th, up 1) are just behind the leading pack, having leapfrogged Brazil (5th, down 1) and Belgium (6th, down 3) now find themselves outside the top five.

(NAN)