FIFA RANKINGS: Nigeria up ranked 62nd in the word

Nigeria have moved a spot up in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday as they are now 62nd in the world.

The 2013 African champions were 63rd position in January. They also gained four points, from 543 to 547.

Nigeria are still outside the top 10 in Africa, occupying 11th place on the continent, after only managing 1 win and 1 draw of the three games played in February.

Cape Verde Islands have now emerged as Africa’s No 1 team ahead of African champions Cote d’Ivoire, 31st best team in the world.

Cote d’Ivoire, who for many months have been Africa’s best rated side in the rankings, dropped to second place on the continent as they are 36th in the world.

At the table’s summit Belgium continue to dominate, while Argentina, Spain, Germany and Chile stay closely pressed to the leaders. Four-time world champions Italy (14, plus 1) meanwhile, recorded the only positive movement in the top 20 this month. Further down the table, Poland gained the most ground of the top 50 teams, climbing three places (31, plus 3) while Serbia (50, plus 1) re-entered the top 50 at Norway’s expense (51, minus 1).

While no team reached its best ever position in the March ranking, a few teams successfully held onto their best ever positions, namely: Belgium (1), Chile (5), Austria (10), Hungary (19) and Kyrgyzstan (105).

The most impressive movers for March were Venezuela and Armenia. The South Americans climbed 6 places and gained 57 points to rise to 75th position, thanks to an impressive 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in Barinas on 2 February. Armenia, meanwhile, enjoyed the biggest climb of the month (116, up 7). Closely chasing Armenia and Venezuela’s success were Israel (67, plus 6), Kazakhstan (125, plus 6) and Guyana (156, plus 6).

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 7 April 2016.

TOP 11 AFRICAN BEST

31 Cape Verde Islands         789(789.38)

36 Côte d'Ivoire              744(743.83) 

37 Algeria                    743(742.56)          

41 Ghana                      656(655.91)         

47 Tunisia                    609(609.22)          

48 Senegal                    603(603.48)           

53 Egypt                      589(589.29)           

58 Congo DR                   565(565)     

59 Congo                      564(563.93) 

61 Cameroon                   551(550.86) 

62 Nigeria                    547(546.82)