THE Super Eagles did not move from their previous position in the FIFA ranking released today.
The three-time African champions are still 40th in the world, the spot they occupied in the last ranking in September.
The Nigerian team played two friendly matches during the international break in October, drawing 2-2 with Saudi Arabia and beating Mozambique 3-2.
Jose Peseiro’s side have also retained their sixth spot in Africa, behind the unchanged top five of Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt.
Nigeria will begin their World Cup qualifying campaign with two fixtures against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in November, with both opponents significantly lower ranked.
Lesotho are ranked 153rd in the world, one spot lower that their position in September, while Zimbabwe have kept their 125th spot.
Cote d’Ivoire, hosts and Nigeria’s major challengers in Group A of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for January and February next year, slipped from 50th to 52nd in the world but remain ninth on the continent.
There were also changes for the other AFCON group opponents of Nigeria, with Guinea-Bissau dropping four spots from 106th to 110th in the world and Equatorial Guinea gaining one place from 92nd to 91st.
There are no changes in the top three positions in the world as Argentina maintain a lead of 8.18 points over their closest challengers France, who are in turn 40.91 points ahead of third-placed Brazil.
England are fourth and Belgium fifth, with Portugal, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Croatia completing the top 10.
The next FIFA world ranking will be published on 30 November after the next international break.
