Morocco Projected to Match Nigeria’s 1994 Feat in FIFA Rankings as New African Champions

The Atlas Lions of Morocco are projected to climb to fifth place in the April FIFA World Rankings, following the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Appeals Committee’s decision to award them the AFCON 2025 title.

Morocco, currently ranked eighth after finishing runners-up earlier this year, will move up three places in the next update.

This marks the highest position ever reached by an African nation in the FIFA rankings, equaling Nigeria’s historic rise to fifth in 1994 after winning the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia in April of that year.

CAF’s Appeals Committee stripped Senegal of the AFCON crown, invoking Articles 82, 83, and 84 of its statutes, and officially awarded the title to Morocco. The ruling has significantly boosted Morocco’s ranking points, propelling them into the global top five.

The North African side are now projected to surpass traditional football heavyweights, with Brazil expected to drop to sixth, Portugal to seventeenth, and the Netherlands to eighth.