Vietnam back in top 100 FIFA rankings

By Duy Doan November 30, 2018 | 01:38 am PT

Vietnam national football team celebrate a goal in second group stage match of AFF Cup 2018 as they won 2-0 over Malaysia on My Dinh National Stadium. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong

One of the goals set by head coach Park Hang-seo when he took charge of the men's national football team has been achieved.

In FIFA's latest world ranking update released November 29, Vietnam has climbed two spots and is officially back in the top 100. In the 100th position, Vietnam is the highest ranked team in Southeast Asia teams and 17th in Asia.

In November, Vietnam played four matches in the group stage of AFF Cup 2018. They beat Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia and drew with Myanmar.

The last time Vietnam broke into the top 100 FIFA rankings was in June 2011, where the team was placed 99th.

The highest position that Vietnam has ever achieved in FIFA rankings is 84th, 20 years ago, in September 1998.

When head coach Park Hang-seo took over Vietnam national football team, he set the goal of taking Vietnam from the 130th position into the top 100, and he has managed that significant leap in 13 months.

The top three FIFA world rankings saw no changes with Belgium on top, followed by France and Brazil. The top five in Asia also remained the same with Iran on top, followed by Australia, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Vietnam is currently participating in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018, where they topped the group stage and will play the Philippines in the semifinal. The first leg of the semifinal will be played in the Philippines on December 2 at the Bacolod Stadium. The second leg will take place on December 6 at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.