Nigeria fall to 43rd as Malawi make biggest rise in FIFA women’s rankings
Nigeria lost more ranking points than any other team in FIFA’s October update, while Malawi climbed 49 places after reaching the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final.
Nigeria’s Super Falcons fell seven places to 43rd in FIFA’s women’s world rankings released on 20 October 2026, according to ACL Sports. Their 83.54-point loss was the largest in the update, while Malawi made the biggest rise, climbing 49 places to 104th. The changes followed the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
How Nigeria’s tournament affected its standing
Nigeria’s tally fell to 1,518.02 points from the previous ranking, published in June, ACL Sports reported. The Super Falcons remain Africa’s highest-ranked women’s team despite their drop in the world standings.
ACL Sports linked the ranking period to Nigeria’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign, in which the team failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time. A subsequent 2-1 defeat to South Africa in a World Cup qualification play-off ended Nigeria’s run of appearances at every Women’s World Cup since the competition began in 1991, the outlet reported.
Malawi’s rise and Cameroon’s place among African teams
Malawi gained 158.44 ranking points, the largest increase in this update, according to Premium Times and Ghana Soccernet. The Scorchers reached the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final and qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, ACL Sports reported. Ghana Soccernet described Malawi’s 49-place climb as a record rise.
Cameroon beat Malawi 3-0 in that final to become African champions and rose nine places to 62nd in the world rankings, Ghana Soccernet reported. The result put Cameroon third among African teams in the standings, behind Nigeria and South Africa and ahead of Morocco.
South Africa slipped two places to 59th but remained second in Africa. Morocco ranked 64th, while Ghana fell to 65th, according to ACL Sports and Ghana Soccernet. Zambia was 70th and Côte d’Ivoire 72nd in the reported standings.
Algeria rose one place to 73rd despite finishing third at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and qualifying for its first Women’s World Cup, Ghana Soccernet reported. Its gain of more than 27 ranking points translated into a smaller move in position than those made by Malawi or Cameroon.
Denmark returned to the global top 10 for the first time since August 2010, climbing two places to 10th, ACL Sports reported. The outlet said FIFA’s next women’s ranking update is scheduled for 7 December 2026.
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Sources and context
- FIFA Women’s World Ranking: Super Falcons suffer massive fall as Malawi make biggest leapPremium Times Nigeria
- Super Falcons drop to 43rd in latest FIFA RankingACL Sports
- Cameroon climb as Malawi make record surge in latest FIFA women’s rankingsGhana Soccernet
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.