Defeats suffered by the Super Eagles against Cameroon and Mexico as well as barren draw with The Indomitable Lions have coagulated to account for a major slump for Nigeria in the latest global soccer rankings released by world football governing body, FIFA.
Megasportsarena.com reports that the after-effects of those recent results have been reflected in a massive slump for the Eagles, as Nigerian went crashing from their previous position of third in Africa to fifth in the continent and 34th spot globally.
This follows a spate of poor results in recent international friendlies for the three-time African champions, who first lost 3-0 to Cameroon in Austria, before eking out a goalless draw against the same team four days later, only to slump 4-0 to Mexico in their next fixture.
Consequently, the latest statistics are not so palatable for the Eagles, who, despite accruing a total of 1,480 points within the period under review, went plummeting seven spots down the rung, though they still remain within Africa’s top-5 bracket.
That confirmed an implosive barren run for the Eagles in their most recent outings, as they did not score a single goal in the three international matches and conceded five times, thereby leaving their fans apprehensive heading into the start of the World Cup qualifiers.
However, ahead of their first game against Liberia in Lagos on September 3, the Eagles’ current ranking as fifth in Africa still leaves them with a chance of being seeded for the third and final round of matches to Qatar 2022.
Their rivals in the same qualification group, Cape Verde, Central African Republic and Liberia are ranked 77th, 123rd and 150th respectively on the global scale; while Senegal are first from the continent and 21st in the world with 1,545 points.
Sierra Leone and Eswatini gained ground with good results in friendlies, while Comoros, who lost 4-0 to Egypt on the last day of their AFCON qualifiers, are rated number 38 in Africa and 133rd worldwide, while Tunisia are second on the continent and 28th globally with 1,515 points.
Globally, Belgium retained top spot despite bowing out of the European Championship quarter-finals, while eventual winners Italy moved up into the top five behind runners-up, England, who will aim for better picking from the next FIFA World Rankings to be published on September 16.
