TheCable

The August edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking shows a leap in four places for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The country now occupies the 53rd position and remains in the top-ten ranked side in Africa.

There was a change in the top three sides in the world, with Belgium (2nd, up 1) swapping places with Germany (3rd, down 1) behind leaders Argentina.

A little below them, Chile, who won last edition of the Copa America (10th, up 1) have entered the top ten at the expense of the Netherlands (12th, down 7).

Further down the global ladder, the CONCACAF Gold Cup finalists have made good ground: Mexico (26th, up 14), winners of the trophy for the tenth time, have risen 14 places, while this year’s surprise package, Jamaica (55th, up 21), are now just outside the top 50 following a sizeable 21-spot leap.

The breakdown of teams in the top 50 per confederation now looks as follows: UEFA: 31 (up 1); CONMEBOL: 8 (unchanged); CAF: 8 (up 1); CONCACAF: 3 (unchanged); AFC: 1 (down 1); OFC: 0 (unchanged).

Of the 29 international ‘A’ matches taken into account for this month’s FIFA Ranking, 26 were CONCACAF Gold Cup matches and the remaining three were friendlies.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on September 3, 2015.