FIFA World Rankings: Nigeria ends 2020 calendar year as 5th best team in Africa

Nigeria’s senior national team also known as the Super Eagles have ended the 2020 calendar year as the 35th best country in the world, and the 5th best team in Africa.

The three-time African champions remain unmoved in the latest Fifa rankings released by the world football governing body on Thursday, December 10, 2020 

Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles garnered a total of 1474 points to stay as the fifth-best team on the continent behind Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Nigeria played only four games.l this year- The first match ended as a 1-0 defeat to Algeria in an international friendly. Before a 1-1 draw against Tunisia in another international warm-up game staged at the Jacques Lemans Arena, Austria.

Nigeria’s double-header Africa Cup of Nations qualifier versus Sierra Leone ended 4-4 and 0-0 respectively.

Senegal are ranked first on the continent and 20th in the world with 1558 points.

Belgium claimed the team of the year prize for the third consecutive year having won six of their eight matches played in 2020.

After Belgium is France (2nd), Brazil (3rd) and England (4th) – who retain their respective rankings.

The only change in the top five compared to 2019 is the appearance of Portugal in fifth place.

The team with the most progress in 2020 were Hungary (40th), after a gain of 44 points and 12 places allowed them to end the year in the top 50.

In eight matches played in 2020, the Magyars lost just once (to Russia), a sequence of results that enabled them to secure a berth at the Uefa Euro 2020.

Other notable climbers include Ecuador (56th, + 41 points compared to December 2019), Malta (176th, + 32 points), Brazil (3rd, + 31 points), and Equatorial Guinea (134th, + 31 points). Burundi (138th), meanwhile, picked up 29 points and made the most significant move in terms of places, ascending 13 positions.