Nigeria’s Super Eagles drop to 30th in October FIFA rankings

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have slipped to 30th in the latest FIFA men’s world ranking after a tough few weeks for Eric Chelle’s men.

The three-time African champions lost four places after a difficult international window that began with an encouraging victory over Madagascar but quickly unravelled with a heavy defeat in Guinea-Bissau.

The October ranking, published by FIFA on Wednesday, October 7, puts Nigeria behind Côte d’Ivoire, who climbed to 29th, while Algeria moved up to 28th. The Super Eagles had started the period in 26th position globally and fourth in Africa.

The fall is a sharp reversal from Nigeria’s position after the July ranking. Eric Chelle’s side had held 26th with 1,585.2 points following a 2-1 friendly defeat by Portugal in June. That ranking had already seen Nigeria slide behind Egypt in Africa despite retaining their global position.

Super Eagles: Madagascar win followed by Guinea-Bissau collapse

Nigeria opened the September/October international window with a 2-1 comeback victory over Madagascar, a result that briefly steadied Chelle’s side after a turbulent period following their failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

However, a trip to Bissau produced one of Nigeria’s most painful results under Chelle as Guinea-Bissau won 3-0 in the AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign.

The defeat cost Nigeria valuable ranking ground and pushed the Super Eagles out of Africa’s top five in the live calculations.

Before the Russia friendly, Nigeria had fallen to 31st in the provisional table, behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire and Algeria.

Nigeria then closed the window with a chaotic 3-3 draw against Russia in Nizhny Novgorod on October 6. The draw offered Chelle a lifeline, but not enough to erase the damage inflicted by the Guinea-Bissau defeat.

Nigeria are now sixth in Africa, behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire. The top 10 African ranking has Morocco first, followed by Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, DR Congo, Cameroon, Mali and Tunisia.

In the global top 10, Spain are still No. 1, ahead of Argentina, France, England and Brazil. Morocco are the highest-ranked African nation in sixth place. Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands and Mexico complete the top ten.

The post-World Cup table has also rewarded unusual climbers such as Norway, who surged 12 places to 19th, while Mexico moved into the top 10 after climbing four places. Switzerland jumped five places to 14th.