South Africa have climbed three places to 72nd in the latest Federation Internationale de Football Association world rankings, released on Thursday.
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Nigeria polled 540.85 points and occupied the 15th spot on the continent, behind Cote d’Ivore, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Senegal, Congo, Guniea, Egypt, Cameroon, DR Congo, Mali and Uganda.
On the global scene, Belgium maintained the top spot to end the year on a positive note, while Argentina moved one step up to seat 2nd, leaving Spain to the 3rd spot, trailed by Germany who slipped two places to occupy the 4th place.
Turkey are the best movers for December, after accumulating 329 points over the a year ago.
Of the 137 matches taken into account for the latest ranking more than two thirds (92 games) were World Cup qualifiers; eight of the 137 games were playoff matches to determine the final four teams to qualify for EURO 2016, and the remaining 37 matches were worldwide friendlies.
Six months to the main draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, the Super Eagles of Nigeria remain 66 in the world and 14 in Africa.
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Bafana have been on a steady decline since the beginning of 2015, dropping down the rankings from 52 in January to 75 in July.
