IRL World Rankings 2025: Nigeria, Ghana continue rise

Nigeria have continued their stunning rise up the Women’s IRL World Rankings to 10th place and the West African nation is aiming to climb higher after announcing several key appointments for 2026.

Along with neighbouring Ghana, International Rugby League’s newest Full Member, Nigeria has been one of the IRL’s most pro-active nations in recent years as the game continues to grow in Africa.

Ghana are the biggest movers in the latest Men’s IRL World Rankings (up from 39th to 35th place) for December 31, 2025, which were previously updated in mid-November, with Toa Samoa and Fetu Samoa making significant moves.

Ghana Women have also climbed from 21st spot to 19th in the latest IRL World Rankings up to December 31, 2025.

Nigeria Women were ranked 17th in mid-2025 – up from 27th at the start of 2024 - and are now 10th after qualifying for the final of the inaugural IRL World Series in Canada against Fiji by beating eighth-ranked Ireland. The Green Falcons also won three Senior International Matches against Ghana in October and November.

After falling just one win short of becoming the first African nation to qualify for a Women’s World Cup, with the Bulikula claiming the last berth at RLWC26, Nigeria have set their sights on 2030 and appointed former Wests Tigers pathways coach Luke Shearman as Director of High Performance & International Teams and Competitions.

Shearman worked alongside Green Falcons coach Bolu Fagborun during the World Series campaign, which featured three Australian-based heritage players and one each from England and Canada.

Kiwi Ferns forward Najvada George has also taken on a role with Nigeria as Women’s International Team Mentor and will work closely with players and staff to support athlete development, leadership growth, performance standards and cultural excellence within the women’s international pathway.

In addition, former England hooker Tara Jones, who was awarded an MBE for services to Rugby League in the King’s New Year’s Honours List, has been appointed by the Nigeria Rugby League Association as a High Performance Referee Mentor, with a specific focus on women’s referee development.

A member of the RFL’s officiating team, Jones will play a key role in supporting the growth, education, and progression of female referees within Nigeria Rugby League, contributing to the strengthening of officiating standards and high-performance pathways across the country.

NRLA Vice-Chairman Ade Adebisi said: “Our rise in the IRL World Rankings is a clear reflection of the work being done across women’s and men’s rugby league in Nigeria, particularly the progress of our women’s programme over the last 12 months. It validates a development model built on structure, participation, and clear pathways rather than short-term results.

“Our focus is sustainability and long-term impact. We are strengthening the domestic game by deliberately integrating experienced Nigerian players from England, Canada, and Australia into our national programmes, alongside locally developed athletes. This creates a competitive environment that raises standards, leadership, and professionalism across the entire system.

“At the same time, we maintain clear outward pathways for talented players developed in Nigeria to progress to England and Australia. This two-way model allows knowledge, experience, and global best practice to flow back into the Nigerian system, ensuring growth that is structured, sustainable, and capable of delivering consistent international performance beyond 2026.”

The Green Falcons were ranked 12th when the IRL World Rankings were previously updated in mid-November ahead of the draw announcement for IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 and played a further international, beating Ghana 42-8 in Accra on November 23.

Nigeria has effectively now swapped places with Fiji, who have dropped from 10th to 12th.

Ghana has also climbed two places in the Women’s World Rankings, from 21st to 19th, as has Greece, who are up from 13th to 11th, while Netherlands have risen from 15th to 14th after beating Greece 34-0 in Rotterdam on December 13.

Ghana’s men rose four places from 39th to 35th after beating Nigeria 36-24 in a double-header with their Women’s teams. Nigeria has climbed from 40th to 37th.

There were no Wheelchair international fixtures played since the previous World Rankings update.

Rugby League Federation Ghana President Juliana Storey welcomed the rise in rankings on the back of Ghana achieving IRL Full Membership in December.

"Full membership is a recognition of the hard work and commitment the Rugby League Federation Ghana has invested over the past few years. It opens new opportunities that will allow us to develop the game in the direction Ghana needs,” she said.

“This status strengthens our ability to promote diversity and growth across our Men’s, Women’s, and Youth Leagues, ensuring rugby league is accessible and inclusive for all.

“Ghana becoming the first African nation outside South Africa to achieve full membership is a historic moment, and one that fills me with immense pride as a Ghanaian. I am honoured to have secured this accreditation during my stewardship as President and look forward to fully maximising the benefits of full membership with the International Rugby League.”

About IRL World Rankings

The IRL World Rankings are calculated on each nation’s performance over the current season and the three preceding seasons. 

Points are awarded to each team for each match based on:

• The result of the match - win, lose or draw.
• The margin of victory (or defeat) - the larger the winning margin the greater the value to the rankings.
• The relative strength of opposition faced - if you play a higher ranked team that is of greater value than playing a lower ranked team.
• The date of the match – more recent matches are weighted more heavily - a result in the most recent two years is worth double a result three years ago and four times a result that is four years old.
• The importance of the match - World Cup matches are ranked top followed in order by World Cup Qualifiers, Regional Championships and one-off international matches.
• The points are then used to create the Official World Rankings by ordering the teams by virtue of the points gained over the four-year period.

Only officially sanctioned matches played at senior level between two approved members are considered as part of the rankings.