Ivory Coast and Nigeria climb in FIFA 2024 rankings

BeSoccer 9 months ago 2.8k |

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The Ivory Coast are the first host country to win the Cup of Nations since Egypt in 2006. AFP

FIFA on Thursday announced its new 2024 rankings for the World Cup to be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Although the top ten has not changed, several African and Asian teams have moved up the rankings following the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup.

Ivory Coast coach Emerse Fae toasted his team of "miracle survivors" after the host country completed one of the greatest turnarounds in major tournament history to win the Africa Cup of Nations by beating Nigeria 2-1 in Sunday's final.

They are the first host country to win the Cup of Nations since Egypt in 2006, and yet they very nearly went out in the group stage. As a result, the Elephants have climbed ten places in the new FIFA ranking for 2024, i.e. they are now ranked 39th in the world.

Meanwhile, Nigeria have moved up 14 places after reaching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, so they are 28th at the moment. However, no team has climbed higher than Angola, who are 93rd after moving up 24 places in the rankings. They are the biggest climbers in the world ranking.

Nevertheless, the top ten ranking published by FIFA on Thursday has not changed since the 2023 ranking. Argentina remain in first place after winning the World Cup in Qatar while France and England are in second and third place respectively.