By Charles Ohizua.
Super Eagles of Nigeria have moved one step up in the World Rankings released by the World Football Governing body, FIFA, in Zurich on Thursday.
The Nigerian team moved from 54th to 53rd position, moving one step up, but remain in the 10th position in Africa.
Algeria stayed top of the African ranking on 19th position in the world. Africa’s number two is Ivory Coast standing 22nd in the world, while Ghana is third in Africa but 27th in the world.
Mauritania, who host South Africa in a 2017 Cup of Nations qualifier next month, were the biggest African climbers in the August Fifa Africa rankings released.
The largely desert North-West country rose 15 places to 33 in Africa and 113 in the world, thanks to a 2-0 African Nations Championship (CHAN) triumph over Sierra Leone.
Other African nations to climb more than five places were Malawi (up 10), Sierra Leone (seven) and Swaziland (six).
Algeria remain the No 1 African national team with Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Cape Verde, Egypt and Nigeria completing the top 10.
RANKINGS (Africa, world rankings)
1-19 Algeria
2-21 Ivory Coast,
3-27 Ghana
4-34 Tunisia
5-39 Senegal
6-42 Cameroon
7-43 Congo Brazzaville
8-50 Cape Verde
9-52 Egypt
10-53 Nigeria
11-59 Democratic Republic of Congo
12-60 Guinea
13-62 Equatorial Guinea, 14-63 Mali
15-64 Gabon
16-71 Burkina Faso
17-72 South Africa
18-73 Zambia
19-74 Uganda
20-80 Togo
21-82 Morocco
22-87 Sudan
23-89 Angola
24-91 Rwanda
25-94 Libya
26-97 Mozambique
27-98 Malawi, 28-99 Ethiopia
29-102 Niger
30-104 Sierra Leone
31-108 Zimbabwe
32-111 Namibia
33-113 Mauritania
34-114 Benin
35-116 Kenya
36-121 Botswana
37-122 Madagascar
38-128 Lesotho
39-132 Swaziland
40-132 Burundi
41-140 Tanzania
42-142 Gambia
43-142 Guinea-Bissau
44-161 Liberia
45-169 Central African Republic
46-172 Chad
47-181 Mauritius
48-185 Seychelles
49-186 Comoros
50-189 Sao Tome e Principe
51-195 South Sudan
52-203 Eritrea
53-204 Somalia
54-206 Djibouti
Next rankings will be released on September 3.
