Nigeria drops 7 places on FIFA world rankings to 59

Nigeria drops 7 places on FIFA world rankings to 59

Nigeria drops 7 places on FIFA world rankings to 59

Nigeria has dropped seven places to 59
from 52 on the monthly FIFA rankings,
according to the November rankings
released on Thursday by world football
governing body FIFA.
The three-times African champions who
accumulated 582 points, down from the
previous 600, consequently dropped to
12th on the continent.
Cote D’Ivoire still top the rankings on the
continent, with Algeria, Ghana, Cape
Verde Islands, Senegal, Tunisia,
Cameroon, Congo Guinea, Congo DR and
Egypt, following in that order, ahead of
Nigeria.
Belgium top the world rankings for the
first time in history, with the Red Devils
jumping two places to replace previous
leaders Argentina who are now third.
World champions Germany kept their
second place, while the biggest climbers
in the top 10 are Chile who are now
fifth, having moved up four places.
England, who are ninth after moving up
one place, and Austria who are 10th
after moving up one rung, have each
made slight progress.
Interestingly, this is the first time
Belgium, Chile and Austria have ever
reached such heights on the global
ladder.
Six teams have leapt by 10 places or
more in the top 50 this month, including
Turkey (18th, up 19), Bosnia and
Herzegovina (20th, up 10) and Ecuador
(21st, up 10).
Others are Republic of Ireland (42nd, up
12), Paraguay (47th, up 14), and Serbia
(49th, up 14).
Four teams have improved their ranking
by over 30 places, and these include
Chad (136th, up 39), who are Nigeria’s
group opponents in the 2017 AFCON
qualifiers.
The others are Cyprus (76th, up 38), Sao
Tome e Principe (157th, up 36) and
Turkmenistan (121st, up 34).
However, the composition of the top 50
for November 2015 shows little change,
with the Asian Football Confederation
(AFC) gaining two teams.
This was through Korea Republic (48th,
up 5) and Japan (50th, up 5).
Africa however lost two, with Cameroon
and Congo each having dropped three
places to 51st and 52nd respectively.
The other confederations have the same
number of teams as last month.
The regional composition of the top 50
now looking as follows: UEFA: 31;
CONMEBOL: 7; CAF: 6; CONCACAF: 3;
AFC: 3; OFC: 0.
The last FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking
of 2015 will be published on Dec. 3 and
it can see Belgium take the “Team of the
Year’’ title, should it retain its top spot.
The ‘Mover of the Year’ will be awarded
to the team which has gained the most
points in 2015.
Current contenders for this are Turkey
(up 430 points), Chile (up 331 points),
Wales (up 330 points) and Austria (up
319 points).
However, with various matches and
qualifiers due to take place over the
coming weeks, the positions are still all
to play for.
A total of 172 international ‘A’ matches
have been taken into account in the
November edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola
World Ranking.
This brought the total number of matches
evaluated so far this year to 840.
Qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2016 (50
matches) and the 2018 FIFA World Cup
(66 matches) played a significant role in
some of the major changes to this
month’s instalment.
Below is a summary of significant
changes in the rankings:
Leader —– Belgium (up 2)
Moves into top ten —– Austria (10th, up
1)
Moves out of top ten —— Wales (15th,
down 7)
Matches played in total —— 172
Most matches played —— Ethiopia (5
matches)
Biggest move by points —— Turkey (up
224 points)
Biggest move by ranks —— Chad (up 39
ranks)
Biggest drop by points ——- Wales (down
163 points)
Biggest drop by ranks ——- Sudan (down
44 ranks)