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.
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
|