Nigeria’s Super Falcons have dropped seven places in the latest FIFA Women’s World Ranking but remain Africa’s highest-ranked women’s national team ahead of South Africa and Morocco, Footynaija reports.
The latest ranking, released on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, sees Nigeria fall from 36th to 43rd globally after losing 83.54 points following their disappointing campaign at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
The 10-time African champions now have 1,518.02 points, recording the biggest points loss among all teams in the latest update.
Nigeria’s decline follows a difficult tournament in which they failed to reach the WAFCON semi-finals for the first time in their history. Their struggles continued in the World Cup qualification play-off, where a 2-1 defeat to South Africa ended their record of appearing at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the competition began in 1991.
Despite their significant fall, Nigeria remain ahead of their continental rivals in the latest rankings.
South Africa dropped two places to 59th, while Morocco occupy 64th position. Cameroon climbed nine places to 62nd to become Africa’s third-highest-ranked team.
Ghana fell to 65th, Zambia dropped to 70th, while Côte d’Ivoire and Algeria sit 72nd and 73rd, respectively.
Malawi recorded the biggest global rise, climbing 49 places to 104th after reaching the WAFCON final and securing qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Spain remain top of the world rankings, ahead of the United States and Germany. England occupy fourth place, followed by Japan, France, Brazil, Sweden and Canada.
Denmark climbed two places to 10th, returning to the top 10 for the first time since August 2010.
The next FIFA Women’s World Ranking update is scheduled for December 7, 2026.











