Fifa Ranking: Nigeria Jump to 33rd, Sierra Leone Join Club 50

Nigeria climbed just one spot to 33rd in the latest Fifa ranking released for the month of July.

One month after the World Cup, many African nations, after missing out on qualification for the tournament in Brazil, have compensated for their absence on the world football performance table.

About 13 of the 23 international ‘A’ matches accounted for in the current edition were 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers, resulting to big changes among African nations.

Federation of International Football Association.
Federation of International Football Association.

Group stage qualifiers candidates, Lesotho (105th, up 26 places), Malawi (106th, up 15 places), Sierra-Leone (50th, up 14 places), Benin (77th, up 14 places), Botswana (86th, up 13 places) and second round losers, Guinea-Bissau (123rd, up 13 places), have all covered large portions on the world football ladder.

The huge relief for the Sierra Leone Football Federation, which has moved to play their next Afcon qualification game on Ghanaian soil because of the Ebola outbreak in the former West African nation, is that they recorded their best ever rating this month.

Only small change reflected within the top 14 positions, as world champions continue their reign at the top, followed by Argentina and the Netherlands. Spain, rated 8th last month are now joint-7th with Brazil.

World Cup quarter-finalists Costa Rica have overtaken the USA to become the top-ranked Concacaf team in 15th position- their highest ever position since the creation of the world ranking in 1993.

Fifa Rankings (Top Ten CAF Zone)

24 1 Algeria

25 2 Côte d’Ivoire

33 3 Nigeria

36 4 Ghana

38 5 Egypt

42 6 Tunisia

50 7 Sierra Leone

54 8 Cameroon

58 9 Burkina Faso

59 10 Senegal