FIFA rankings: Eagles end 2024 in 44th place

 Despite making a strong start to the year 2024, the Super Eagles are ending the year as the fifth-best team in Africa and 44th in the world, according to the latest FIFA ranking released by the world’s football governing body on Monday.

Nigeria were 28th in the world in the first ranking of the year which was released just days after the Super Eagles reached the Africa Cup of Nations final in Ivory Coast, but they’ve dropped 16 places since then.

The three-time African champion maintained their position from November, with the same 1,482 points.

The Eagles dropped from 36th in the world to 44th in the November FIFA rankings which was among the biggest drop among other countries in the month.

In Africa, Nigeria now sits behind Morocco (14th), Senegal (17th), Egypt (33rd) and Algeria (37th).

The Super Eagles’ decline in the last two rankings is not unconnected to the uninspiring run in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers campaign when they struggled against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.

In the last international window, they suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at home to Rwanda in the last phase of the 2025 AFCON qualifier after being held to a 1-1 draw by the Benin Republic.

Meanwhile, reneging world champions, Argentina are the highest-ranked team in the world with 1867 points followed by France.

European champions Spain are third with 1853 points while England are fourth and Brazil fifth.

Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany make up the top 10 respectively.

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