The Super Eagles finished 2024 ranked 44th in the world, marking their lowest position in six years, according to the final FIFA World Rankings released yesterday.
This significant drop comes after a promising start to the year when Nigeria began 2024 in 28th place, following a strong performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, where they finished as runners-up to hosts Ivory Coast in February.
Over the course of 2024, the Super Eagles played 15 matches, securing nine wins (including an awarded victory in the cancelled match against Libya), four draws, and five losses.
Despite their efforts, inconsistency, particularly in World Cup qualifiers, contributed to their decline in the rankings.
Currently, Nigeria is in fifth place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification group, which consists of six teams. This makes their path to qualification for the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico challenging.
The final FIFA rankings for 2024 showed no changes among the top 10 teams from last month. Argentina maintained their top spot, followed by France, Spain, England, and Brazil. Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Italy completed the top 10.
In Africa, Morocco remained the continent’s leader, finishing 13th globally, while Senegal (17th) and Algeria (33rd) rounded out the top three. Nigeria, which was ranked fourth earlier in the year, has dropped to fifth.
The Eagles’ 44th-place finish matches their position in December 2018, marking their worst year-end ranking in recent history.
