After enjoying a strong performance in the King’s Cup 2019, the national team added 5.2 points, giving them a total of 1,232 points. As a result, the team moved up two places from 98th to 96th positions in the rankings.
This represents the highest Vietnam has ever been in the world rankings.
FIFA began announcing their FIFA World Rankings in 1993, and the previous highest place that the Vietnamese men’s football team had reached was 98th in September 1998.
In the latest FIFA rankings released in June, the Vietnamese men’s football team is the highest placed team in Southeast Asia and the 15th ranked team in the entire Asian region. The national team has been seeded in group two for the upcoming World Cup 2022 qualifiers.
Before the King’s Cup 2019, Vietnam was ranked 98th in the world and 16th in Asia, behind Asia’s Top 8 which consists of Iran, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and China, as well as Asia’s Top 16 including Iraq, Syria, Uzbekistan, Oman, Kyrgyzistan, and Jordan.
The strong showing at the King’s Cup 2019 helped to surpass Jordan in the rankings.
Belgium are currently top of the world rankings, whilst Armenia, Hungary, Malaysia all climbed nine places. In contrast, former European champions Greece fell nine places.
