Nigeria have slipped to 44th in the latest FIFA Men’s World Ranking released on Thursday, marking their lowest position in over five years.
Despite remaining unbeaten during the recent international window, the Super Eagles fell one place from their previous ranking of 43rd, the same position they held in April 2025.
This drop also represents their lowest standing since June 2019, when they were ranked 45th globally.
Eric Chelle’s side had a relatively solid run of fixtures during the June window, drawing 1–1 with Russia in a friendly and competing in the Unity Cup. In that tournament, they defeated Ghana 2–1 in the semi-final and drew 2–2 with Jamaica in the final.
Those results helped Nigeria gain a marginal 2.91 points, moving from 1481.35 to 1484.26. However, the improvement was not significant enough to maintain their previous ranking, as other nations around them posted stronger results.
This marks the third time in the past nine months that Nigeria have been ranked 44th by FIFA, having also occupied the position in November and December 2024.
Nigeria remain fifth among African nations. Morocco continue to lead the way for Africa, sitting 12th globally. They are followed by Senegal, who dropped one spot to 18th but remain the second-best African side.
Egypt fell to 34th, while Algeria held their place at 36th. Ivory Coast, following a winless run of four matches, slipped to 45th, allowing Nigeria to stay marginally ahead of the 2023 AFCON champions.
Further down the African standings, Tunisia stayed 49th, Cameroon dropped to 51st, and Mali fell to 54th. South Africa retained their 56th position after a busy international period that yielded just one win from eight matches.
Globally, Argentina remain atop the rankings, followed by Spain, France, England, and Brazil rounding out the top five. Croatia returned to the top ten, while Mexico climbed four spots to 13th after their recent Gold Cup triumph.
Costa Rica were the biggest movers in the July 2025 edition, leaping 14 places after an impressive run to the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup.
FIFA confirmed that results from over 200 international fixtures were taken into account for this month’s ranking. The next FIFA Men’s World Ranking update is scheduled for September 18, 2025.