FIFA ranking: No changes as Super Eagles end year in 35th place

ALMOST all of the countries kept their November places as the December FIFA ranking was released on Thursday.

Just two weeks after the November ranking was announced, FIFA released its year-end rating on Thursday to round off 2020.Since there was only one international match played during the period, there was very little movement.

The Super Eagles stay in 35th place with 1474 points.

The Nigerian team had dropped to 35th in November, paying for their poor results that month, when they could only play two draws with Sierra Leone.

Teams tend to drop points in the ranking table if they cannot beat teams ranked lower, and Sierra Leone is ranked much lower than Nigeria.

In the two Africa Cup of Nations fixtures against Sierra Leone in November, the first one ended 4-4 in Benin City after the Super Eagles had taken a 4-0 lead while the second one ended 0-0 in Freetown. 

Sierra Leone also remains 116th, the position they climbed to in November when they rose four places and gained 14 ranking points.

Senegal, who qualified for the 2022 AFCON during the November games, remain the top team in Africa. The Teranga Lions are 20th in the world.

Tunisia stays 26th in Africa and second in the world, and Algeria remain 31st in the world and third in Africa.

The Super Eagles are fourth in Africa, with Morocco (joint 35th with Nigeria in the world) rounding off the top five on the continent.

Belgium remains the top-ranked team in the world, followed by France and Brazil.

There is little movement in December due to a lack of activity.Only Qatar, Ethiopia, Dominica and Djibouti changed positions in the ranking.

Hosts of the 2022 World Cup Qatar rose one spot to 58th following their defeat of Bangladesh (186th, – 2) in a delayed Asian qualifying fixture for Qatar 2022. 

Ethiopia (146th, + 1), Djibouti (184, + 1) and Dominica (184th, + 1) all advanced one place each.