The Super Eagles dropped one notch in the monthly FIFA rankings released Thursday by the world football governing body to end the outgoing year in 37th spot.
The African champions started 2013 in 52nd position (her lowest all year round) but having conquered Africa at the Nations Cup in South Africa moved up to 30th spot in February.
The highest position attained by Nigeria all year long was in May when the country was ranked 28th in the world.
For the December ordering, Nigeria maintained her position as the 4th highest ranked country behind the usual suspects: Ivory Coast, Ghana and Algeria who are ranked 17th, 24th and 26th respectively.
The last edition of the FIFA rankings saw no changes in the world’s top ten teams.
Spain continue to lead the table ahead of Germany and Argentina, followed by Colombia, Portugal and Uruguay.
World and European champions Spain top the final ranking of the year for the sixth time in a row, securing themselves once again the title of Team of the Year.
The highest climbers of 2013, thanks to nine wins, two draws and only one defeat, are Ukraine, who have collected no fewer than 312 points since December 2012, moving up 29 places to 18th and gaining the title of Mover of the Year for the first time.
According to FIFA, to arrive at the December rankings, the results of 30 international matches were taken into account.
