Nigeria move up in FIFA rankings, remain number one in Africa

The Super Falcons of Nigeria moved up three places in the latest FIFA rankings of Women’s international teams.

The Super Falcons have been in woeful form in recent months, and have won just once in their last eight matches, dating back to their 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations quarterfinal against Cameroon.

Since then, they have only defeated Costa Rica in the 2023 Women’s Revelations Cup, losing six matches in a row including other Revelations Cup matches, international friendlies, and the semifinal and final of the 2022 AFWCON.

Despite the poor recent record, the Super Falcons have risen three places in the FIFA rankings released in March, moving from 45th to 42nd.

Despite finishing fourth in the most recent Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, Nigeria remain the highest-ranked African country in the World.

Thanks to their 42nd-place rank, they are currently above South Africa (54th) who are the reigning African Champions, Morocco (73rd), who finished as runners-up at the 2022 AFWCON, and Zambia (77th) who finished third.

Cameroon who were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the AFWCON were ranked as the third-best team in Africa and the 56th in the World, while Ghana who were not at the competition at all were ranked as the fourth-best team in Africa and the 59th best best team in the world.