THE Super Eagles of Nigeria have dropped down in the FIFA world ranking for the second time in a row.
The three-time African champions slipped one spot to 45th in the ranking released today, having also descended by one place in July.
The Super Eagles however retained their 1484 ranking points despite the drop in positions.
They played two matches in the period under review — the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in early September against Rwanda, which the Super Eagles won 1-0, and South Africa, which ended 1-1.
The Super Eagles also slipped up one spot in the African ranking, dropping out of the top five to sixth place.
Cote d’Ivoire took over the fifth spot on the continent as Morocco (11th in the world), Senegal (18th), Egypt (35th) and Algeria (38th) retaining the top four positions.
Globally, Spain overtook long-time world number one Argentina to take the top position in the highest-profile change in the ranking.
European champions Spain rose one place to first, a mark they have not occupied in the men’s game since back in June 2014, while Argentina fell to third, having occupied top spot since April 2023.
Joining high-flying Spain in surpassing the current world champions are the team Argentina beat in the Qatar 2022 World Cup final, France (second, up one spot).
Slightly further down, Portugal, Croatia and Italy have all edged up one spot, into fifth, ninth and 10th positions, respectively, making the most of the setbacks suffered by Brazil (sixth, down one) and Germany (12th, down three).