The Super Eagles of Nigeria has dropped one place from 48th position to 49th in the latest FIFA world ranking.
The latest ranking which was released on Thursday on the website of the football governing body (FIFA) clearly stated that Nigeria is one of the countries with worst mover rating as we currently share the same spot with Russia who moved up in ranking after their exploits in the last world cup they hosted.
In Africa however, the Super Eagles moved to 5th place from the 6th position.
On the global scene, Uruguay moved to 5th place sending Argentina to 11th place in the world, while Croatia have moved up to 4th place from 20th.
World Cup winners, France, takes the 1st position sending Germany to 15th position, Belgium in second position, followed by Brazil, Croatia and Uruguay.
England takes 6th place, Portugal 7th, Switzerland 8th position, while Spain and Denmark are sitting in the 9th position.
The new ranking formula, which was approved by the FIFA Council in June after a lengthy period of testing, relies on adding/subtracting points won or lost for a game to/from the previous point totals rather than averaging game points over a given time period as in the previous version of the Ranking.
The changes, of which there are several, include the fact that inactive teams now preserve their point totals, with no devaluation of older games. Points are dropped, however, from losing or drawing against weaker opposition, with the only exception to this rule matches in knockout rounds of major competitions such as the FIFA World Cup™.
