FIFA Ranking: Nigeria suffer consequences of Guinea-Bissau loss but stay ahead of South Africa, Ghana, Turkey

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have dropped four places in the October 2026 FIFA ranking after the latest international break. 

The three-time African champions were ranked 26th in the previous ranking but are now the 30th-best team in the world. 

Nigeria also dropped out of Africa’s top five, with Morocco (7th in the world), Senegal (18th in the world), Egypt (25th in the world), Algeria (28th in the world) and Ivory Coast (29th in the world) making the top five. 

Eric Chelle’s men played three games in the latest FIFA window, but won just one of those three matches.

The Super Eagles beat Madagascar 2-1 in their AFCON 2027 qualifier opener but suffered an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Guinea-Bissau in their second game of the qualifying series. 

Although they played a 3-3 draw against Russia in an international friendly, that defeat to the Wild Dogs dealt a major blow to their hopes of moving up in the ranking. 

However, despite falling out of the top five in Africa, the Super Eagles are still ahead of their arch-rivals, South Africa and Ghana, who are ranked 48th and 70th in the world, respectively. 

The three-time African champions are also ahead of the likes of Turkey, Wales, Scotland, Russia and Ukraine in the global ranking. 

Meanwhile, Spain maintained their top spot in the general ranking, ahead of Argentina, France, England and Portugal, who moved up two spots to fifth. 

Brazil, Morocco, Belgium, Netherlands and Mexico make up the rest of the top ten in the global ranking. The next FIFA ranking will be released after the November international break.