Nigeria moves up to 28th spot in May FIFA rankings

The Super Eagles of Nigeria now occupy 28th position in the world according to the FIFA ranking for May released today.

It represents a significant move up for the Super Eagles, who were in the 31st position in April. The current African champions started the year in 52nd place, but their fortunes changed after they won the AFCON in South Africa.

Ivory Coast remains the top ranked African team in 12th place while Ghana, Mali, 2013 AFCON champions Nigeria and Algeria round off the top five sides on the continent.

Host of the last AFCON South Africa are the biggest gainers, jumping 6 places to 56th and now sit in 9th place on the continent; their first top 10 placing since January.

Spain remains number one in the global rankings and the top ten teams remain unchanged.

According to FIFA, more movement is to be expected in the table in June, when the World Cup qualifiers resume in Africa and teams that qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup play their first warm-up matches.