Nigeria Drops One Spot In FIFA Rankings

  Nigeria Drops One Spot In FIFA Rankings By Sampson Adedeji World soccer governing body on Thursday morning released its latest ranking for the month of February and Nigeria's Super Eagles dropped one spot, BSNSports.com.ng reports. Nigeria was ranked 35th with 1474 points at the close of 2020 after the team failed to secure a win in the 2021 African Cup Of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone. The latest ranking released indicated that the three-time African champions dropped to 36th position with the same number of points. Teranga Lion of Senegal remained the Africa Top team and placed 20th in the world. FIFA world ranking for the start of 2021 with the top 10 remaining unchanged from the sides that closed out 2020 as the world's leading footballing nations. Africa Top 10 1. Senegal 2. Tunisia 3. Algeria 4. Morocco 5. Nigeria 6. Egypt 7. Cameroon 8. Ghana 9. Mali 10. Burkina Faso. How Countries Are Rated In February by FIFA In the first FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of 2021, a total of 43 full internationals (including one played in December 2020) were taken into account. The standout tournament in recent weeks has been the African Nations Championship (CHAN), where a total of 32 games took place. These fixtures as well as the other 11 games played have been classified as friendlies, because only players competing in the national championships of the participating countries are eligible to take part in the CHAN. In the standings, CHAN winners Morocco (33rd, + 2), and runners-up Mali (54th, + 3) have made the most progress. Third-placed Guinea (72nd, + 1) and quarter-finalists Congo (90th, + 1) have also advanced. Other teams moving in the right direction include Costa Rica (50th, + 1), currently back in the Top 50 after an absence of several months, Cape Verde (80th, + 1), Oman (81st, + 1), Benin (82nd, + 1), Azerbaijan (108th, + 1), Estonia (108th, + 1), Thailand (110th, + 1), Guinea-Bissau (119th, + 1), Tajikistan (120th, + 1) and Guatemala (130th, + 1). Those teams aside, no other country has enhanced its position since December, and the Top 32 places in the standings remain unchanged since the end of 2020. Belgium, France, Brazil, England and Portugal continue to occupy the top spots, with the leading trio of Belgium, France and Brazil only separated by 37 points. The fight for top spot promises to be an exciting one this year with a string of major tournaments scheduled (Copa America, UEFA EURO and Concacaf Gold Cup) as well as the resumption of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup.