Super Eagles came tumbling down the ladder in the FIFA ranking released Thursday morning.

They are now number 40 in the world, falling down five steps from the previous 35th position three months ago.

Worst still, they have fallen out of the top five in Africa, occupying the sixth position.

Their crash may not be unconnected with the home defeat inflicted on the team by far lesser-ranked Guinea Bissau in Abuja last month.

The weight of the opposition and the status of matches add value to the ranking of the respective teams.

TheNiche, said, in the past three rankings released, Super Eagles had been on a steady decline. They dropped from 32 in last year’s ranking to 35 in October and now 40.

Although they managed a penalty-kick assisted away win over the lowly Guinea Bissau, it did little to influence the Super Eagles ranking.

Prior to the face-saving win in Bissau, the Nigerian team had gone on a five-match losing streak for the first time in 42 years.

In contrast, good results by Morocco have seen the country rising steadily.

A good run at the World Cup in Qatar and excellent results in high-profile friendly matches with Brazil and Peru have seen the Atlas Lions becoming Africa’s number one, pushing Senegal down to the second position