Following their respective continental triumphs, Qatar, the Asian Cup victor, and Ivory Coast, the newly crowned African champion, ascended within the top 40 of the FIFA men’s world rankings, announced on Thursday.
Qatar’s successful defense of its Asian title propelled it up 21 spots to 37th, marking its highest position in the 32-year history of the rankings, while Ivory Coast climbed 10 places to rank 39th, a significant jump from its 2013 position of 12th.
In the latest FIFA Men’s World Rankings, Morocco holds the top spot among African men’s national football teams, followed closely by Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, and Cote d’Ivoire.
This update comes in the aftermath of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which concluded on February 11 with Nigeria’s Super Eagles falling 2-1 to Cote d’Ivoire, the host nation, in the final.
Despite this defeat, Nigeria’s Super Eagles soared 14 spots up the global rankings from 42nd to 28th, also advancing from sixth to third place within Africa.
The rankings’ top 10, led by Argentina, the 2022 World Cup champions, remained stable, with no shifts among South American and European teams due to the absence of competitive matches this year. France and England hold the second and third spots, respectively.
Morocco, standing at 12th, is the highest-ranked team outside of the dominant South American and European continents, even after being eliminated in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 by South Africa. Japan, which reached the Asian Cup quarterfinals, is the leading Asian team at 18th.
Significant progress was also made by the finalists of last weekend’s competitions, with Nigeria climbing to 28th, up by 14 places, and Jordan ascending 17 spots to 70th. The United States saw a slight drop to 13th, exchanging places with Morocco, while Mexico is positioned at 15th.
- Morocco: First in Africa, 12th in the world.
- Senegal: Second in Africa, 17th in the world.
- Nigeria: Third in Africa, 28th in the world.
- Egypt: Fourth in Africa, 36th in the world.
- Cote d’Ivoire: Fifth in Africa, 39th in the world
- Tunisia: Sixth in Africa, 41st in the world.
- Algeria: Seventh in Africa, 43rd in the world.
- Mali: Eight in Africa, 47th in the world.
- Cameroon: Ninth in Africa, 51st in the world.
- South Africa: 10th in Africa, 58th in the world.
- Burkina Faso: 11th in Africa, 61st in the world.
- Congo DR: 12th in Africa, 63rd in the world.
- Cabo Verde: 13th in Africa, 65th in the world.
- Ghana: 14th in Africa, 67th in the world.
- Guinea: 15th in Africa, 76th in the world.
- Equatorial Guinea: 16th in Africa, 79th in the world.
- Gabon: 17th in Africa, 84th in the world.
- Zambia: 18th in Africa, 87th in the world.
- Uganda: 19th in Africa, 92nd in the world.
- Angola: 20th in Africa, 93rd in the world.