Nigeria and Cameroon have risen in the latest FIFA Women’s ranking, a result of their performance at the 8th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup (FIFAWWC) a week ago.
African representatives at the FIFAWWC have seen their efforts in France yield results following the latest rankings especially the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon who moved up by five places after an impressive campaign.
Cameroon made their second ever appearance at the FIFAWWC in France following a ground breaking debut appearance in Canada 2015 in which they qualified for the round of 16. In similar fashion, the Indomitable Lionesses made it to the knockout stage in France for the second time in their second appearance at the global showpiece.
This performance has moved Cameroon up to 41st position in the World rankings while reigning African Champions Nigeria who also made it to the round of 16 for the second time in eight appearances at the FIFAWWC moved by two places from 38th to 36th in the World.
Banyana Banyana of South Africa who made their debut appearance at the FIFAWWC in France failed to make it out of their group and so maintain 49th position on the log. Meanwhile for the first time since August 2016 Gabon (124th) returned to the ranking after their impressive away win over Congo in 2020 Olympics qualifiers.
On the global stage, back to back World Champions USA maintain top spot strengthening their position after defeating four fellow top-six nations at the FIFAWWC to extend their lead to 121 points over Germany (unchanged in second place) in what is the largest gap in the ranking’s history.
Following their run to the FIFAWWC final Netherlands moved up five places to 3rd displacing England who are now 5th in the latest ranking while host nation France maintain fourth place.
The ranking itself reached a new milestone with the number of teams increasing from 155 to 158, with no teams needing to be removed due to prolonged inactivity, which is an all-time record.
