Morocco return to fifth in FIFA rankings, matching Nigeria’s record

Abdullateef Fowewe

Morocco have climbed back to fifth place in the provisional FIFA men’s world rankings, overtaking Brazil and Portugal after a strong weekend of results.

The Atlas Lions, coached by Mohamed Ouahbi, moved up from seventh following their emphatic 5-1 victory over Niger in a 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Casablanca on Friday.

They then benefited from Brazil’s 3-2 friendly defeat to Japan and Portugal’s heavy 4-1 loss to Denmark in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday.

Morocco now sit on 1,805.34 points, ahead of Brazil in sixth and Portugal in seventh.

The live standings subject to change until the international window closes currently place Spain first, followed by Argentina, France, England and Morocco.

FIFA is due to publish the next official rankings on November 18.

This marks a return to the top five for Morocco, a position they first reached earlier in 2026 and which equals the highest ranking ever achieved by an African national team.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles set that benchmark in April 1994, when they rose to fifth behind Brazil, Germany, Norway and Switzerland during a golden period that included winning the Africa Cup of Nations and making a strong debut at the FIFA World Cup in the United States.

Morocco’s sustained rise reflects years of progress since their historic run to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals in Qatar.

They followed that up with another deep tournament showing, reaching the quarter-finals at the 2026 World Cup, and have remained consistently among the world’s top sides.

Their previous national high before this recent surge had stood at 10th, set in 1998.

The team will look to consolidate the position when they face Niger again on Tuesday in the next round of AFCON qualifying.

A further strong result would help them hold fifth regardless of other results involving Brazil and Portugal in the current window.