Naija Super Eagles still dey hold their position as third best for Africa and 26th for world for latest FIFA ranking wey release just hours before 2026 World Cup kickoff for North America.
Even though Super Eagles no qualify for the Mundial, Coach Eric Chelle work for last 18 months show say the team dey steadily improve.
Naija only dey behind Morocco and Senegal for Africa, while traditional rivals like South Africa and Ghana wey dey World Cup still dey far behind.
Super Eagles impressive performance for last AFCON for January and defence of Unity Cup for London plus holding Poland for friendly all help Nigeria maintain status quo.
World Cup-bound Portugal end Super Eagles 12-match unbeaten run after dem defeat Nigeria 2-1 for final warm-up game for Leira early this week.
Portugal wey rank fifth best for world and get Cristiano Ronaldo take lead for 23 minutes through Chelsea star Pedro Neto.
But Eagles wey rank 21 places below Portugal for FIFA Rankings draw level for 39th minute through Jerome Akor with assist from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru.
Substitute Francisco Conceicao score winner for Portugal for 75th minute.
A win for Nigeria for that match maybe go raise their rating for this latest classification.
The three-time African champions climb from 38th to 26th for world rankings on January 19 after strong tournament run for AFCON.
That performance lift Nigeria to their highest FIFA ranking for five years, and dem manage to hold that position through series of encouraging results for 2026.
Morocco remain Africa highest-ranked team and sit seventh for world, while Senegal occupy second place for continent.
Behind Nigeria, Algeria rank fourth for Africa, followed by Egypt for fifth and Côte d’Ivoire for sixth.
For global level, reigning world champions Argentina leapfrog France to become new Number 1 for FIFA Ranking.
France drop to third while Spain dey second. England stay 4th, Portugal 5th, Brazil 6th, Morocco 7th, Netherlands 8th, Belgium 9th and Germany 10th for top 10.
FIFA release final men world ranking on Thursday morning, just hours before Mexico and South Africa kick off biggest World Cup for history for Mexico City.
Argentina surge two spots to reclaim number one after comfortable friendly wins over Iceland and Honduras.
Lionel Scaloni side now walk into Kansas City next week wearing both crowns: world champions and world top-ranked team.
No nation don win back-to-back World Cup since Brazil for 1958 and 1962.
France drop from first to third after sloppy 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast for final tune-up.
Morocco climb to seventh, highest position any African nation ever occupy for FIFA rankings.
Netherlands slide out of top seven after limp 1-0 loss to Algeria for final friendly.
Argentina enter World Cup as number one ranked team, but no country don ever win World Cup while entering tournament ranked number one since FIFA ranking system start for 1992.
