Nigeria remain 43rd on January Fifa ranking

Nigeria remained unmoved at number 43 in the latest Fifa rankings for the month of January released on Thursday, Goal reports. The African champions were adjudged the same rank in the world according to the ranking released in December 2014. The Eagles are now the ninth-ranked African side behind Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Ghana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Guinea and Senegal despite missing out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations billed for Equatorial Guinea. Algeria remain at the summit of African football with 948 points which put them in the 18th position in the world while Tunisia are second in Africa and ranked 22th in the world. Cote d’Ivoire stay third on the continent after amassing 833 points which places them in the 28th spot in the world.

There are 146 non-movers in the 209 teams. Bahrain have made the biggest gain thanks to wins over Saudi Arabia and Jordan, moving up 12 places to 110th in the process. The only teams to climb more than three places are Lebanon (122nd, up 4) and Vietnam (133rd, up 4), while the Faroe Islands have achieved their highest-ever position of 103rd since the ranking was introduced in 1993. The biggest fallers this month are Iraq (114th, down 11) and Jordan (93rd, down 12). More movement is to be expected in the February edition of the world ranking, which will take into account all of the results from the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and the AFC Asian Cup in Australia. The next Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 12 February 2015.