Bunmi Ogunyale
Former African champions, the Super Eagles have moved up five places in the World football governing body, FIFA monthly ranking.
With 635 points, the Gernot Rohr lads were ranked 47th in the world and sixth best country in Africa. The South Africa 2013 African Cup of Nations winners still trailed Tunisia, Senegal, Congo DR, Morocco and Egypt on the continent.
Nigeria’s group opponents, Argentina, Croatia and Iceland were ranked 5th, 18th and 22nd respectively.
While Argentina dropped by one spot to 5th, Croatia crashed three places to 18th, Iceland fell four places to 22nd position in the world.
The FIFA World Cup defending champions, Germany held on to the top spot on the log, despite a draw and defeat in March.
Belgium also climbed onto the podium (third, plus two), following a thumping 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia and Tunisia (14th, plus nine) and Uruguay (17th, plus five) jumping up the table after both recording a pair of friendly victories in March. The Eagles of Carthage, for their efforts, reached their best-ever ranking.
The next FIFA World Ranking would be released on 17 May 2018.