Nigeria has plunged even further down the latest FIFA rankings released by the world football governing body on Wednesday 8th April.
The Super Eagles dropped from 41 to 45. The drop reflects a slump in the team’s fortunes on the field, including the disastrous performance in the last two friendly fixtures against Uganda and South Africa.
The Super Eagles crashed one-nil to lowly ranked Uganda 1-0 in Uyo and were forced to a 1-1 draw by South Africa in Nelspruit.
Many African countries also suffered similar fates, with Algeria also dropping down from 18 to 21, Cote D’Ivoire dropping three places down from 20 to 23 and Ghana dropping two places to 26 while Tunisia dropped five places to 30.
Other African teams ranked higher than Nigeria are Senegal (36), Cape Verde Islands (37) and Guinea (41).
Meanwhile, there have been some notable changes in the top ranking. Belgium (3rd, up 1) have achieved their highest-ever position following two wins in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying and now trail only Germany and Argentina.
Brazil (5th, up 1) and the Netherlands (6th, down 1) have traded places.
The Brazilians defeated France (11th, down 3) 3-1, while the Netherlands had to settle for a draw against Turkey (52nd, up 4) in their EURO qualifier.
Switzerland (9th, up 3) and Spain (10th, up 1) have re-entered the top 10 at the expense of France and Italy (13th, down 3) respectively.