By: Tunji Okunlola
Nigeria’s Super Eagles have slipped again in the latest FIFA World Ranking, falling one place from 44th to 45th in the update released by FIFA on Thursday. It’s the second straight drop for the team; they had also fallen a spot, from 43rd to 44th, when the July rankings came out.
The slide leaves Nigeria sixth on the continent, now trailing Morocco (1st in Africa), Senegal (2nd), Egypt (3rd), Algeria (4th) and Côte d’Ivoire (5th).
Movement Among Upcoming Qualifying Opponents
There’s been shuffling among the sides Nigeria will face next month in matchday 9 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Lesotho, who host the Super Eagles in October, dropped to 153rd, while Benin Republic another October qualifier opponent climbed to 93rd.
Elsewhere on the continent, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana rose to 55th after holding three-time AFCON champions Nigeria to a 1-1 draw this month, a result that has boosted their own World Cup qualification hopes.
Spain Reclaims Top Spot, Argentina Dethroned
The biggest shake-up happened at the very top of the table. UEFA EURO 2024 champions Spain climbed one place to become world number one; their first time atop the rankings since June 2014. That move ends Argentina’s long reign at the summit; the reigning world champions, who had held top spot since April 2023, drop to third.
France also leapfrogged Argentina, moving up one place to 2nd. This is notable given France were the side Argentina beat in the 2022 World Cup final.
Further down, Portugal, Croatia and Italy each climbed a spot, landing at 5th, 9th and 10th respectively, benefiting from stumbles by Brazil (down one to 6th) and Germany (down three to 12th).
Germany’s fall was driven by an away defeat to Slovakia in their opening World Cup 2026 qualifier – the first time since October 2024 that they’ve dropped outside the top 10.
Just below the top tier, Morocco moved up to 11th, the highest-ranked side outside the top 10, on the back of winning eight of their nine matches since July’s rankings were published.
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