Nigeria rose slightly in the monthly FIFA rankings, which were released on Thursday.
The 2013 African champions are up two places to 43rd in the world, gaining 22 points in the month under review to be on 681 points.
The Super Eagles are the seventh ranked team in Africa.
Nigeria’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying opponents in Kaduna in nine days, Chad, are ranked 172nd in the world, down 20 places from last month.
The West Africans are on 100 points, 50 fewer than they had last month.
The other teams in Nigeria’s AFCON qualifying group, Tanzania and Egypt, also lost points and slid down the rankings.
The East Africans recently posted poor performances at the COSAFA Cup.
Tanzania are joint 127th in the world with Vietnam, down 20 places and with 89 points fewer on 215.
Egypt, who are rebuiliding after a disastrous few years, are 55th in the world with 596 points, down four places with 13 fewer points than they had last month.
Tanzania’s Taifa Stars are 38th in Africa, Egypt’s Pharaohs 13th, and Chad 46th on the continent.
Algeria remained the top-ranked team in Africa (21st in the world), followed by African champions Cote d’Ivoire (24th in the world).
