Sports
NPFL Drops To 91st In Global League Rankings
The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has dropped to 91st place in the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) global league rankings, marking a fall of 15 positions from its 76th-place ranking in 2024.
The latest figures, released for 2025, show the NPFL earned 171.75 points, placing it outside the top 90 leagues globally and signalling a decline in the league’s comparative strength against other domestic competitions worldwide.
The IFFHS ranking methodology combines results from both continental and international club competitions, giving weighted consideration to club performances beyond regional contests. Analysts say the NPFL’s drop reflects inconsistent results by Nigerian clubs in continental tournaments and the growing competitiveness of leagues in other regions of Africa.
In Africa, Egypt’s Premier League maintained its position as the continent’s strongest league for a sixth consecutive year.
Morocco’s Botola followed, retaining a position on the African podium since 2018, while South Africa’s Premiership returned to the top three for the first time in 21 years. Algeria and Tunisia completed the continent’s top five.
Under the Confederation of African Football (CAF) five-year ranking, Nigeria sits 12th with 21 points, still allowing the country to enter two teams in each CAF club competition.
Globally, European leagues continued to dominate the upper ranks, with 12 of the top 20 and 29 of the top 50 leagues hailing from the continent.
South America contributed five leagues to the top 20, while Asia had two, and CONCACAF and Oceania had one league each.
The English Premier League retained the top spot worldwide for the sixth time since the rankings began in 1991, followed by Spain’s La Liga and Brazil’s Serie A.
Italy’s Serie A dropped three positions but remained above Germany’s Bundesliga, while France’s Ligue 1 climbed into sixth place.
Portugal’s Primeira Liga held seventh, Argentina’s Liga Profesional slipped two places but stayed ahead of the Dutch Eredivisie, and Colombia’s Primera A completed the global top ten.
Observers have suggested that Nigeria’s drop to 91st highlights long-standing concerns about the NPFL’s competitiveness and international visibility.
Club performances in continental competitions, investment in infrastructure, and the quality of player development are cited as critical areas for improvement if the league is to regain its standing.
According to football analyst Tunde Adeyemi, “The NPFL has the potential to compete at higher levels, but the decline in rankings reflects both structural challenges and the need for strategic planning to boost club results and overall league quality.”
With African leagues such as Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa consolidating their positions both continentally and globally, the NPFL faces mounting pressure to enhance its domestic competition and ensure Nigerian clubs perform more consistently on the continental stage.