Nigeria have retained 26th place in the latest FIFA Men’s World Rankings released on Monday but have slipped to fourth in Africa following Egypt’s progress at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Super Eagles remain on 1,585.2 ranking points, ahead of Turkey, Australia, Algeria, Canada and Côte d’Ivoire, who occupy 27th to 31st positions respectively.
Eric Chelle’s side have not played a competitive match since June, when they lost 2-1 to Portugal in an international friendly.
Nigeria’s drop in the continental rankings followed Egypt’s run to the Round of 16 of the ongoing World Cup, where the Pharaohs were eliminated after a 3-2 defeat by Argentina. Their performance lifted Egypt to third place among African nations.
Morocco remain Africa’s highest-ranked team after reaching the World Cup quarter-finals and have climbed one place to sixth in the global rankings.
Senegal retained second place in Africa despite dropping three places in the world rankings, while Algeria slipped one place globally but remained fifth on the continent.
Nigeria remain the second-highest-ranked nation not participating in the World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Denmark, ranked 21st in the world, are the only higher-ranked team absent from the tournament.
Former England captain John Terry was among those who expressed disappointment at Nigeria’s absence, describing the Super Eagles as a notable omission from the expanded 48-team competition.
Nigeria finished second behind South Africa in Group C of the African qualifiers before advancing to the play-off final with victory over Gabon.
However, the Super Eagles lost the decisive play-off to the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties, missing out on qualification for a second consecutive World Cup after also failing to reach the 2022 finals in Qatar.
The Nigeria Football Federation subsequently challenged DR Congo’s qualification, alleging the use of ineligible players during the qualifying campaign, but the appeal was unsuccessful.
At the top of the rankings, newly crowned world champions Spain have returned to first place, replacing Argentina, who dropped to second. France, England and Brazil complete the top five.
The next FIFA Men’s World Rankings are scheduled to be released on 7 October 2026.
