The Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, Runners-up, Super Eagles of Nigeria have moved up by 14 spots to be placed 28th in the world in the February FIFA ranking.
In the ranking table published on the website of the world football governing body on Thursday, the team garnered 1,522 points as against the 1,474 points garnered in December 2023.
The upward movement further shoot up the Super Eagles as the third placed team on the continent, behind Morocco and Senegal who have 1663 and 1620 points.
However, the newly-crowned African champions Cote d’Ivoire, reaped the rewards of their continental triumph on home soil by being in the 39th place having moved up by 10 spots.
AFCON second runners- up, South Africa climbed 8 spots to 58th, with Egypt 36th, Cameroon, 51st & Ghana 67th dropping down after their early AFCON 2023 exits.
The Angolan side, who were ousted in the last eight climbed 24 spots to 93rd, are the biggest climbers in the latest installment of the global ranking.
In the points stakes, two-time Asian Cup winners Qatar climbed up 21 to 37th chalk up the biggest tally 92.04 points, after capitalising on home comforts to successfully defend their continental crown.
Elsewhere, Jordan moved up 17 spots to 70th, who were edged out in the final, make good ground, as do Thailand also climbed up 12 spots to 101st, whose journey came to an end at the last-16 stage.
Qatar’s rise sees them enter uncharted territory, with two other teams also recording best-ever rankings.
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Senegal also climbed up 3 spots to 17th, which suffered shoot-out heartbreak at the hands of the eventual winners Cote d’Ivoire in the AFCON Round of 16, break new ground.
Tajikistan climbed up 7 spots to 99th, which mark their maiden Asian Cup campaign by making a first-ever appearance in the top 100.
Other impressive performers are Equatorial Guinea moved up 9 spots to 79th, South Africa climbed up 8 spots to 58th, Cabo Verde moved up 8 spots to 65th, Namibia climbed up 8 spots to 107th, and Mali climbed up 4 spots to 47th.
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