By Ihechi Enyinnaya
Nigeria has retained its 26th position in the latest FIFA men’s world rankings despite suffering a slight drop in rating points, while newly crowned world champions Spain have returned to the top of the global standings after winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Super Eagles, who occupied 26th place in the April rankings with 1,585.02 points, lost 1.67 points in the latest update following their 2-1 defeat to Portugal in an international friendly played shortly before the World Cup. Despite the reduction in points, Nigeria maintained its position in the rankings.
Spain climbed back to the summit of world football after defeating defending champions Argentina 1-0 after extra time in Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey. The victory saw Luis de la Fuente’s side replace Argentina as the world’s top-ranked team for the first time since January.
Argentina dropped to second in the rankings, while France remained third despite losing to England in the third-place playoff. England held on to fourth position after claiming the bronze medal.
Brazil moved up to fifth, while Morocco reached a historic milestone by climbing to a record-high sixth place, becoming Africa’s highest-ranked team. Portugal slipped two places to seventh following their Round of 16 exit, while Belgium and the Netherlands swapped positions in eighth and ninth respectively.
Mexico broke into the top 10 after climbing four places, while Norway recorded the biggest improvement in the rankings, jumping 12 places to 19th after reaching the World Cup quarterfinals.
Germany dropped out of the top 10 to 12th, Croatia moved to 13th, and Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, slipped to 15th.
Elsewhere in Africa, Egypt climbed five places to 24th, Tunisia suffered the biggest decline by falling 12 places to 57th, while Ghana rose eight spots to 65th. Cabo Verde also improved by three places to 64th after reaching the Round of 32 at the World Cup.
Nigeria remains among Africa’s leading football nations and will hope to improve both its ranking points and global standing in upcoming international fixtures.