Nigeria’s Super Eagles have finished the year ranked 38th in the world in the latest FIFA Men’s World Rankings, according to the December 2025 update released by world football’s governing body. The ranking places Nigeria inside the global top 40, maintaining the same position they held in November.
The Eagles also end the year fifth among African national teams, behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt and Algeria in the continental standings. Morocco leads African teams globally, ranked 11th, while Senegal sit 19th and Algeria and Egypt occupy 34th and 35th, respectively.
Nigeria’s 38th-place finish represents a modest recovery during 2025. The Super Eagles began the year around 44th, rose to 43rd in April, briefly dipped mid-year, then climbed back up to 38th by November a net gain of six places overall.
The December ranking reflects international results accumulated over a busy year, including qualifiers, friendly fixtures and broader competition; however, no competitive matches were played between the November and December ranking windows, which contributed to the team holding steady at 38th.
Nigeria’s next opportunity to improve their standing will come after results from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, with the next FIFA ranking due on 19 January 2026.
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Editorial
For a football nation whose history is woven with continental glory and global aspiration, ending 2025 ranked 38th in the FIFA World Rankings is a narrative of resilience and recalibration more than it is of disappointment.
In purely numerical terms, being inside the world’s top 40 is an achievement many national teams strive for a marker of consistent relevance on the international stage. Yet for Nigeria, a three-time Africa Cup of Nations winner and a side once poised much higher on the global list, this position reflects a year of paradoxes: flashes of quality, interspersed with on-field inconsistency and the lingering sting of missing out on the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Africa’s footballing landscape has grown increasingly competitive. Morocco’s rise into the global top 15, Senegal’s firm hold inside the top 20 and the steady presence of Egypt and Algeria above Nigeria underscore the shifting balance of power on the continent. Nigeria’s status as fifth in Africa reminds us that the Super Eagles remain among the continent’s elite but also that parity has become the new normal.
The real test for any national side is not where it finishes in a static ranking, but how it responds to adversity. The Eagles’ position is not a coda it is a starting point, a reference against which future progress particularly through the Africa Cup of Nations campaign will be judged. Rankings are snapshots, influenced by fixture timing as much as results, but they also reflect broader trajectories.
Under coach Éric Chelle, Nigeria has sought to blend experienced campaigners with emerging talents, striving for cohesion amid transition. This phase may not yet have delivered the consistency supporters crave, but a strong showing at AFCON 2025 could well recalibrate both perception and position.
Ultimately, ending 2025 ranked 38th is a reminder of football’s competitive reality the game is dynamic, national team fortunes ebb and flow, and ambition is only validated through response. For the Super Eagles, the AFCON stage beckons as the arena where this year’s ranking could be redefined not just in numbers, but in the narrative of Nigerian football itself.
Did You Know?
- Best Finish in Current Cycle Nigeria’s 38th position at the end of 2025 is the best FIFA ranking they’ve achieved in the past three years, after finishing 42nd in 2023 and 44th in 2024.
- Points Total The Super Eagles finished the year with 1,502.46 points in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking.
- Highest Ever Ranking Nigeria’s highest-ever FIFA ranking was 5th in the world, a position achieved during periods of successful qualification campaigns and major tournament runs.
- Competitive Matches Impact The team’s position was unchanged between November and December because they did not play any competitive international matches in that period.
- Next Ranking Date The next FIFA World Ranking is scheduled for 19 January 2026, coming just after the conclusion of AFCON 2025 in Morocco.
