Vietnam improve position in FIFA ranking

By Xuan Binh September 28, 2022 | 12:15 am PT

Vietnam players (in red) celebrate the third goal against India in a friendly match in HCMC on September 27, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

Victories over Singapore and India in a friendly tournament this month helped Vietnam climb one place in FIFA's world football ranking update.

Before the international break, Vietnam were 97th in FIFA rankings with 1,218.84 points. The 4-0 win against Singapore on September 21 and 3-0 score against India on September 27 accumulated in 3.05 and 4.76 points for Vietnam. After those friendlies, the Golden Dragons are on 1,226.65 points and have taken over 96th place from Belarus.

Wednesday also marked 1,400 days for Vietnam to remain among the world top 100. Under coach Park Hang-seo, Vietnam entered the top 100 on November 19, 2018.

The next FIFA ranking update will be available on Oct. 6, which will extend the duration of Vietnam in the top 100. But that might change at the end of this year, after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and 2022 AFF Cup.

According to FIFA, a win in AFF Cup is only worth 5 points or less. A win in friendlies hosted by FIFA is worth 10 points or less. In the World Cup group stage and round of 18 matches, that number is 50, and from quarterfinals to the final, 60.

Vietnam are in group B of the 2022 AFF Cup with Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar and Laos. The team will play the first group stage match in Vientiane against Laos on Dec. 21.

Six days later, Vietnam will return to home ground My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi to take on Malaysia. Every three days, Vietnam will play Singapore, then Myanmar. The top two teams of each group will advance to the semifinals.