Nigeria Super Eagles will be starting the year in the 43rd spot on the monthly FIFA Rankings.
Super Eagles of Nigeria The Eagles ended 2014 in the same position and having been largely inactive in the period under review, it was no surprise that they were rooted in the same position in the latest rankings released. As explained by FIFA, apart from Nigeria, there were 145 other non-movers amongst the 209 teams on rankings thus meaning that Germany deservedly starts the year on top of the world while the Desert Foxes of Algeria are Africa’s highest ranked team. The top three teams 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. A further breakdown shows that Bahrain made the biggest gain thanks to wins over Saudi Arabia and Jordan, moving up 12 places to 110th in the process. The biggest drops this month were Iraq (114th, down 11) and Jordan (93rd, down 12). While the Eagles were able to keep their 43rd spot this term, they may be tumbling over in the next rankings fixed for February 12 as more movement will follow the results from the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and the AFC Asian Cup in Australia. The Super Eagles have no chance to garner points from the Africa Cup of Nations having missed out on qualification. Unfortunately, points from friendly games carry less weight from those secured in competition proper. It would be recalled that Nigeria striker Sanni Issa made history with his Auckland City of New Zealand team-mates as they became the first team from the Oceania to win a medal at the FIFA Club World Cup. Meanwhile, Real Madrid became the champions of the tournament after the Spanish giants defeated San Lorenzo of Argentina 2-0 in the final match played in Morocco.
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