Nigeria’s Super Eagles have slipped four places to 30th in the latest FIFA men’s world ranking following a difficult international window for Eric Chelle’s side.

The three-time African champions suffered the drop after a mixed run that began with an encouraging 2-1 comeback victory over Madagascar before ending with a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau and a dramatic 3-3 draw against Russia.

The October ranking, published by FIFA on Wednesday, placed Nigeria behind Côte d’Ivoire, who climbed to 29th, while Algeria moved up to 28th.

Nigeria had occupied 26th position in the previous ranking with 1,585.2 points following a 2-1 friendly defeat to Portugal in June.

The latest decline represents a sharp reversal for Chelle’s team, who opened the latest international window with victory over Madagascar to briefly steady their campaign.

However, the Super Eagles suffered a major setback in Bissau, where Guinea-Bissau secured a convincing 3-0 victory, costing Nigeria valuable ranking points and pushing them out of Africa’s top five in the provisional calculations.

Before their friendly against Russia, Nigeria had dropped to 31st in the provisional ranking, behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire and Algeria.

The Super Eagles then ended the window with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Russia in Nizhny Novgorod on October 6. Although the result provided Chelle with some relief, it was not enough to completely offset the damage caused by the defeat in Guinea-Bissau.

In Africa, Morocco remain the continent’s highest-ranked team, followed by Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, DR Congo, Cameroon, Mali and Tunisia.

Globally, Spain retained top spot ahead of Argentina, France, England and Brazil, while Morocco remained the highest-ranked African nation in sixth position.

Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Mexico complete the global top 10.

The latest ranking also saw several notable movements, with Norway climbing 12 places to 19th, Mexico rising four places into the top 10 and Switzerland moving up five places to 14th.

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