Vietnam records biggest decline on FIFA ranking

By Xuan Binh April 4, 2024 | 06:29 am PT

Nguyen Dinh Bac (number 15) dribbles the ball during Vietnam's 0-3 loss to Indonesia at My Dinh Stadium, Hanoi in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on March 26, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

Vietnam's national football team dropped 10 places in the FIFA rankings released Thursday, their worst decline in seven years.

The squad lost a total of 30 points over the period.

Two losses to Indonesia in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup last month made Vietnam the team that lost the most points during the period evaluated by the FIFA ranking update.

In February 2024, the team lost 41 points and fell 11 places, after losing three matches at the 2023 Asian Cup.

This time, Vietnam dropped 10 places, followed by Malaysia, Taiwan and Mauritius, who fell six places. Mauritius had the second most points deducted after Vietnam (25.55 points).

Currently, Vietnam are 115th in FIFA, down 20 places since coach Philippe Troussier took over the team in early 2023. Under the French coach, the team lost 10 and won only three out of its 13 official FIFA matches. In official tournaments, the team won one and lost six games.

Vietnam are still 19th in Asia and second in Southeast Asia after Thailand. With one draw and one loss to South Korea in the World Cup qualifiers, Thailand remained 101st in the world and 18th in Asia.

Indonesia's ranking jumped the highest over the period after scoring 30 points by thumping Vietnam. They rose eight places to 134th. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia also jumped to third place, behind Thailand and Vietnam.

The FIFA ranking is used to seed major tournaments such as World Cup or Asian Cup qualifiers. Vietnam's lowest position in history is 172nd in December 2006. The current position of 115th is the lowest for the team since November 2017 at 125th, when coach Park Hang-seo took over the team. The highest position that Vietnam reached on FIFA ranking during Park's stint was 90th in June 2021.