By BUSHRAH YUSUF-BADMUS

The Super Falcons of Nigeria have dropped by seven spots in the July FIFA Ranking, to be placed 46th, after ending 4th at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.

In the ranking table published on the website of the world football governing body on Friday, Nigeria garnered 1535.09 points in the month under review and lost 69.33 points, which is the biggest decline in terms of points.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the former African champions surprisingly went down 1-0 to the She-polopolo of Zambia in the match for the third place match of 2022 WAFCON.

At the continental level, the drop in spot however did not displace the Falcons as the 1st placed team in Africa with the current WAFCON winner, South Africa placed 2nd.

Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast are the 3rd, 4th and 5th placed teams, respectively.

South Africa (54th, plus 4) moved up four places on the back of their title triumph at the 2022 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Semi-finalists at that tournament, Zambia (80th, plus 23) are this edition’s most-improved side after surging 23 places.

At the global scene, July 2022 was a busy month for women’s football, with five major tournaments taking place across the globe.

In addition to the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, continental championships were held in Africa, South America, North America and Oceania, all serving as qualifying events for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.

Since 17 June 2022, when the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking was last published, no fewer than 221 matches have been played, generating considerable movement in the standings.

And while USA (1st), recent winners of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, remains the team to catch, the Stars and Stripes have a new pursuer in the shape of Germany (2nd, plus 3).

The EURO 2022 runners-up move ahead of Sweden (3rd, minus 1), whose own European title ambitions came to an end in the semi-finals.

Freshly crowned continental champions, England (4th, plus 4) moved up four places ahead of France (5th, minus 2).

Drops for the Netherlands (6th, minus 2), Canada (7th, minus 1), and Spain (8th, minus 1) are the other significant changes in this edition’s Top 10.

Another notable improver in this edition is Jamaica, who achieved their highest-ever placing (42nd, plus 9), following their third-place at the Concacaf Championship.

Also enjoying all-time highs are Iceland (14th, plus 3), the Republic of Ireland (26th, plus 1), Portugal (27th, plus 3) and Zambia.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that four new teams have joined the Ranking since June 2022 namely Cambodia (120th), Turkmenistan (137th) Timor-Leste (152nd) and Guinea-Bissau (169th), giving the August 2022 edition a record-breaking 185 FIFA member associations. (NAN)

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