Vietnam's men move up one place in FIFA rankings

By Hoang Nguyen April 4, 2019 | 08:30 pm PT

Vietnam players celebrate victory against Jordan in Asian Cup round of 16 on January 20, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Khoa

Vietnam has moved from 99th to 98th place in the latest FIFA rankings announced Thursday.

This also means that Vietnam maintains its position as the best team in Southeast Asia, managing to improve its ranking despite not playing any match in March.

With 1227 points, Vietnam is currently 16th in Asia, which is enough to get into the second seed pot for the second elimination round for the 2022 World Cup that will have 40 teams.

Vietnam needs to maintain this position, though. Dropping to 17th spot in Asia will see them falling into the third pot, facing much stronger opponents.

Right behind Vietnam in Asia at the moment is Palestine, ranked 99th in the world, with three points less.

Vietnam can also aim for Jordan’s current ranking of 97th (15th in Asia), who has two points more.

The Golden Dragons will have the chance to go up further in the FIFA rankings if they do well at the King’s Cup this June.

The grouping draw for 2022 World Cup qualification is expected to be held in summer this year, and the second elimination round will begin in September.

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

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

Vietnam also reached the 98th rank in October 1998 and December 2003.

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

There has been no change in the top three FIFA world rankings, with Belgium, France and Brazil holding on the first, second and third spots, respectively.

In Asia, Iran continued to be the best team with a global ranking of 21, followed by Japan (26), South Korea (37) and Australia (41).

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is followed by Thailand (114), the Philippines (124), Myanmar (140) and Indonesia (159).

At the Asian Cup 2019, Vietnam lost to Iraq and Iran, beat Yemen in the group stage and Jordan in the last 16 before losing to Japan in the quarterfinals.

On the women’s FIFA ranking, Vietnam maintain their 35th position in the world, 7th in Asia and 2nd in Southeast Asia.