NIGERIA NOW 38 IN FIFA RANKINGS

Nigeria jumped five places in the August FIFA world football rankings released on Wednesday to place 38 and fourth in Africa.

The team had slipped in the last three rankings released by the football body despite not losing any game in those periods.

Cote d'Ivoire remain Africa's number one as they stay in 15th position, sharing points with France and Japan. Egypt are second on the continent, staying at 34th, while Ghana are 36th in the rankings.

The most significant change in the rankings is the swap at the top with The Netherlands claiming the top spot for the first time ever. They dethroned Spain who had occupied the position since lifting the World Cup in South Africa in July 2010.

The Oranje profited from Spain's defeat by Italy in a friendly, becoming only the seventh team after Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to sit atop the global ladder.

FIFA said 76 Grade A matches were held in the period under review, 60 of which were friendlies. 15 were Asian Zone qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, and one was a EURO 2012 preliminary.