Eagles drop again in FIFA ranking as Belgium maintains lead
By George Aluo
Despite putting up a five star performance against Brazil in Singapore on October 13, the Super Eagles have again dropped in the latest FIFA ranking released this morning.
The Eagles who in September were rated 34 in the world are now 35, even as Belgium retained her position at the top.
Belgium (1st, unchanged) still lead the way ahead of France (2nd, unchanged) and Brazil (3rd, unchanged), although top-ten rivals Uruguay (5th, up 1), Croatia (7th, up 1) and Argentina (9th, up 1) have at least edged closer to the summit.
The most significant rises are to be found further down the ranking, where the in-form quartet of Ukraine (22nd, up 3), Japan (28th, up 3), Turkey (32nd, up 4) and Russia (37th, up 5) are among the more notable climbers.
Jumps of ten or more places have also been made by a clutch of teams outside the top 50, namely Nicaragua (137th, up 11), Barbados (160th, up 10), South Sudan (162nd, up 11) and São Tomé and Príncipe (180th, up 10).
There is also more cause for celebration for Kosovo (114th, up 5), who can once again reflect with pride on their best ranking position to date.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 28 November 2019.
Leader Belgium (unchanged)
Moves into top 10 None
Moves out of top 10 None
Matches played in total 184
Most matches played Algeria, Morocco, Guinea, Libya, Bangladesh (4 matches each)
Biggest move by points São Tomé and Príncipe (up 29 points)
Biggest move by ranks Nicaragua, South Sudan (up 11 ranks)
Biggest drop by points Mauritius (down 29 points)
Biggest drop by ranks Mauritius (down 12 ranks)
Newly ranked teams None
Teams that are no longer ranked None
Inactive teams, not ranked Cook Islands