Rivers United have been ranked the best Nigerian football club in 2017 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) in its latest club world ranking.
In the IFFHS ranking covering the period between 1st January 2017 – 31st December 2017, Rivers United had 86 total points with an impressive leap from its position of 651 in 2016 to 221 in 2017.
Rivers United of Port Harcourt took joint 221st position in the ranking along with São Paulo FC, FK Lokomotiv Tashkent, CA Boca Juniors, Al Ain FC, Hertha BSC, Panionios FC, and šK Slovan Bratislava.
Weighing up with other top tier leagues, Rivers United ranked higher than Burnley, Southampton FC, and Crystal Palace FC of the English Premier League; RC Espanyol and Real Betis of the Spanish La Liga; as well as VFL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV and FSV Mainz 05 of the German Bundesliga.
Real Madrid C.F. are the top team in the world, Gremio the second and Manchester United occupied third position.
Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, CR Flamengo, Juventus FC, FC Bayern München, Manchester City FC and FC Red Bull Salzburg complete the top ten in that order.
Four of the top five African clubs are based in North Africa. Al Ahly SC is first followed by Etoile du Sahel, Esperance ST, TP Mazembe and Club Africain.
The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the 63rd strongest national league in the world, according to the Lausanne based organization.
