Super Falcons: How Nigeria stayed ahead of South Africa, Morocco despite FIFA ranking slump

Nigeria’s Super Falcons have suffered a significant setback in the latest FIFA Women’s World Ranking.

The former African champions dropped seven places to 43rd globally but still retained their position as Africa’s number-one women’s national team.

The ranking, released on Tuesday, October 20, shows that the 10-time African champions lost 83.54 points, falling from 36th place in June to 43rd with 1,518.02 points.

Despite the damaging decline, Nigeria remain ahead of continental rivals South Africa and Morocco, whose recent performances have not been enough to dislodge the West Africans from the summit of African women’s football.

The latest ranking confirms a difficult period for the Super Falcons, who endured disappointing results at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco before suffering another major setback in their bid to qualify for the next FIFA Women’s World Cup.

WAFCON and World Cup failures hit Nigeria’s Super Falcons

Nigeria’s ranking decline follows a forgettable WAFCON campaign in which the Super Falcons failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time in the competition’s history.

The Super Falcons suffered a shock 3-2 defeat to Malawi during the group stage. The Nigerian girls responded with victories over Zambia and Egypt, winning 1-0 and 6-2 respectively.

However, a disappointing 1-0 defeat against eventual winners Cameroon halted the Falcons’ recovery and knocked the defending champions out of the tournament in the quarterfinal stage.

The team’s difficulties continued in the World Cup qualifying play-offs, where a 2-1 defeat to South Africa ended Nigeria’s remarkable record of qualifying for every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the tournament began in 1991.

Despite beating Comoros 7-0 across two legs in October during the Olympics qualifiers, the Super Falcons still lost 83.54 ranking points, the largest decline recorded by any country in the latest update.

However, Nigeria retain their top spot in the African rankings. South Africa sit second on the continent and 52nd globally, nine places behind the Super Falcons. Cameroon are third in Africa and 62nd worldwide, followed by Morocco in 64th and Ghana in 65th.

Spain remain top of the global rankings, ahead of the United States, Germany, England and Japan. Denmark’s return to 10th place was the only change in the global top 10.