ILORIN – The world football governing body, FIFA, on Thursday placed Nigeria 44th in its ranking table for the month of May, with the African champions moving up by one spot.
The ranking, which is coming just 35 days to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, sees Nigeria having 631 points.
It has thus placed the Nigerian Super Eagles as the least-ranked team among their Group F foes in the First Round of the mundial which begins on June 12 in Brazil.
Nigeria were 45th in April and are now ranked 44th while Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran were placed 7th, 25th and 37th respectively.
Argentina have 1178 points, while Bosnia-Herzegovina have 795 points and Iran have 715 points.
In the African top 10, Nigeria are the only African country which moved up, leaving Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana and Cape Verde on the same spot they occupied in April.
With the May ranking, Nigeria still remained the sixth-placed team in Africa with the first five teams in Africa having 830, 798, 795, 713 and 665 points respectively.
On the global scene, 2014 World Cup hosts Brazil displaced Colombia for the fourth position by climbing two spots to stay behind Spain, Germany and Portugal respectively.
The first five teams in the world have 1460, 1340, 1245, 1210 and 1186 points respectively.
The ranking will be released on June 5, seven days to the World Cup.(NAN)
