ZURICH: Nigeria have shot up 22 places in the world rankings with their triumph last weekend in the African Nations Cup.

By claiming their third title Nigeria not only ended a 19-year title drought but have also climbed to 30th place in the the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, their best ranking since August 2010.

Beaten finalists Burkina Faso (55th, up 37) moved up a massive 37 places to 55th.

Hosts South Africa (60th, up 25) have also enjoyed a significant leap of 25 places. Although former Africa Cup of Nations winners Côte d’Ivoire (12th, up two) bowed out at the quarter-final stage, last year’s runners-up have achieved their best-ever world ranking.

However, the Elephants have not made it into the top 10, where Spain (first, unchanged) continue to reign supreme ahead of Germany (second, unchanged) and Argentina (third, unchanged). England (fourth, up two) complete the top four after their home win over Brazil.

The first matches of the latest round of CONCACAF qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ have resulted in improved rankings for nearly all of the teams involved, with Panama (42nd, up four), Honduras (51st, up eight), Costa Rica (53rd, up 13) and Jamaica (56th, up two) all making progress once again.

Only the USA (32nd, down four) have fallen in the ranking. Olympic champions Mexico remain in 15th place despite their goalless draw against Jamaica in the Aztec Stadium.

Venezuela (45th, up 10) have returned to the top 50, which now contains all 10 CONMEBOL teams.

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Management summary
·         Leaders                                            Spain (unchanged)
·         Moves into top ten                      none
·         Moves out of top ten                   none
·         Matches played in total             127
·         Most matches played                 Burkina Faso (9 matches)
·         Biggest move by points             Burkina Faso (up 182 points)
·         Biggest move by ranks               Mauritania (up 38 ranks)
·         Biggest drop by points               Equatorial Guinea (down 134 points)
·         Biggest drop by ranks                 Equatorial Guinea (down 34 ranks)
 
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 14 March 2013.
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Ranking as of 14 February 2013
Rank
Team
+/- Ranks
Points
+/- Points
Jan – Feb 13
Feb 13
Jan – Feb 13
1
Spain
0
1590
-16
2
Germany
0
1437
0
3
Argentina
0
1281
-9
4
England
+2
1160
+9
5
Italy
-1
1157
-8
6
Colombia
-1
1129
-35
Portugal
+1
1129
-15
8
Netherlands
0
1108
-16
9
Croatia
+1
1059
-5
10
Russia
-1
1055
-15
 
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