THE Super Falcons of Nigeria have dropped one place in the latest FIFA women’s ranking.
The world governing body released the ranking today, with the Super Falcons slipping from 36th in the world to 37th, going down from 1631 points to 1607 points.
Since winning a record-extending 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in Morocco in July, the Super Falcons have not been as active as other women’s national teams, missing out on the last FIFA window.
Meanwhile, the Super Falcons are still the top-ranked team in Africa, followed by South Africa (55th in the world), Ghana (62nd), Zambia (64th) and Morocco (66th).
World champions Spain (first, unchanged) retained their UEFA Women’s Nations League crown to stay in pole position in the ranking after regaining top spot in August.
In the continental showdown, La Roja overcame Germany (third, up 2), who have made the biggest leap amongst the top 10.
Sandwiched between the two European heavyweights are the USA (second, unchanged), who beat Italy in two friendlies in the most recent international break but lost to Portugal back in October.
Further down the top 10, Sweden (now fifth) have tumbled two places following their semi-final defeat to Spain in the UEFA Women’s Nations League, while France (seventh, down 1) and Canada (10th, down 1) also lost ground.
Three nations from different continents have risen 16 places each. Nicaragua (now 96th), Burkina Faso (now 118th) and American Samoa (now 137th) all made significant strides, with the latter having claimed two notable scalps by beating the Cook Islands and Tonga to register over 63 ranking points – more than any other country since the previous instalment.
Paraguay (now 46th) have nosedived five spots and are the biggest fallers in the top 50. Further down the ladder, Mali (now 85th) and Egypt (now 101st) have slumped six places apiece, while India (now 67th), Cameroon (now 70th) and the Solomon Islands (now 77th) have each dropped four places.
Two African sides, Chad and Libya, have come into the ranking for the first time after locking horns with each other and battling it out against Afghan Women United and Tunisia in the FIFA Unites: Women’s Series.
Those two latest additions have brought the number of FIFA Member Associations in the women’s standings up to a record 198.