Nigeria’s Super Falcons have moved up eight places to be ranked No. 32 in the latest FIFA ranking released on Friday.
The Falcons were 40th in the world ranking released before the World Cup, but their audacious performance at the global football showpiece which saw them beat co-hosts Australia, and play a draw with Olympic champions Canada and the Republic of Ireland saw them garner the second-highest leap in the latest FIFA ranking.
Nigeria failed to progress past the round of 16 at the World Cup after losing to eventual runners-up England via penalties after regulation time had ended goalless.
The Falcons had a total of 1554.94 in the June ranking which has increased to 1649.08 in the latest ranking.
The West African giants can improve their ranking further when they begin their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sao Tome and Principe in September and the 2024 Olympics Women’s Football qualifiers in October against Ethiopia.
The ranking sees Nigeria retain its status as Africa’s best Women’s football team while South Africa (45) is placed second. Cameroon (56) is third.
Morocco who are the biggest movers by points also moved up 14 places to be ranked 58 in the world and the fourth-best African female football team while Ghana (59th) completes the top 5 teams in Africa.
On the world stage, “It is Sweden who sits at the top of the pile for the first time ever (1st, up 2). The Scandinavians dethrone the USA (3rd, down 2), whom they squeezed past in the round of 16 before ultimately being edged out in the semis and then recovering to overcome joint hosts Australia in the match for third place.”
