The Federation of International Football Associations has rated the Super Eagles of Nigeria as the 41st best team in the world and 7th in Africa.
The Super Eagles moved up 9 places from the January rating even though they didn’t qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon which was won by Cameroun in last weekend’s final.
In the February ranking table the world football governing body released on Thursday, Nigeria garnered 686 points, as against 619 it had in January.
The Pharaohs of Egypt (23, plus 12) are now the highest-ranked CAF team, while AFCON semi-finalists Burkina Faso (38, plus 15) placed 6th in Africa.
Burkina Faso are behind Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia and Congo DR respectively.
Cameroon’s victory at the AFCON final helped them climb 29 places into 33rd position.
The most significant changes for the February edition of the FIFA World Ranking are by virtue of matches played at the 2017 AFCON.
However, the aforementioned moves for teams at Gabon 2017 were not the only results from a tournament which meant positive ranking results for nations.
Honduras (65, plus 10) and El Salvador (114, plus 24) enjoyed substantial gains, thanks to their performances at the 2017 Copa Centro Americana held from January 13 to January 22.
But, in spite of the many successes from the Americas and Africa over the preceding weeks, the composition of the top five teams remains unchanged for the February ranking.
Argentina (1), Brazil (2), Germany (3), Chile (4) and Belgium (5) hold on to their positions, while France (6, plus 1) move past Colombia (7, minus 1).
