Back-to-back victories for Nigeria away to Benin Republic and at home against Lesotho have shot the Super Eagles four spots up in the latest IFA monthly ranking, and they are now 32nd in the world, megasportsarena.com reports.
A famous 1-0 win away to The Squirrels, courtesy a 93rd minute lone strike by Paul Ebere Onuachu, who also scored last week Tuesday in a 3-0 spanking of The Crocodiles at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, have both proven to be more than worthwhile for the Eagles.
They had already qualified for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations before entering the pitch against Benin Republic the previous Saturday, as fellow-Group L contenders, Sierra Leone and Lesotho played out a draw that gave the Nigerians an unassailable lead atop the table.
Gernot Rohr’s side, however, still ensured they put the icing on the cake and justified their celebrations in grand style, with the result now seen on the rankings, as they moved up four places in the latest rankings released by the world soccer governing body on Wednesday.
The upward swing takes the three-time African champions, who were last month 36th in the world, up to 32nd globally and retain their spot as third best on the continent, behind Senegal and Tunisia, but ahead of Algeria (33rd), Morocco (34th), Egypt (46th) and Ghana (49th).
While Nigeria’s highest FIFA ranking was achieved in April 1994, when they rose to fifth in the world, Belgium remain the globe’s number one football team, followed by France, Brazil, England and Portugal in that order.
