Vietnam’s national men’s football team climbed from 95th even after losing 6.89 points in October. The team continued to lead Southeast Asia and maintain their 15th position in Asia.

Vietnam players in a team play during the friendly with China on Oct. 10, 2023.

In October, Vietnam played three international friendlies, of which two were official matches - a 0-2 defeat against China (ranked 80th in world) and a 0-6 loss against South Korea (26th). The remaining game with Uzbekistan was played behind closed doors and thus did not count towards the FIFA ranking.

Vietnam's rank rose because other teams vying for the same position also dropped points. Armenia (ranked 91st in September) dropped four places after losing 20.22 points due to a 0-2 defeat against Latvia (ranked 136) in the 2024 Euro qualifiers and a 1-3 loss to North Macedonia in a friendly.

Kyrgyzstan (ranked 96th in September) dropped one place after losing 0-2 to Bahrain and 0-1 to the Philippines in friendlies. Palestine (ranked 97th in September) did not play any match over the new ranking period and withdrew from the Merdeka Tournament in Malaysia, so there was no chance for them to move past Vietnam.

Argentina still topped the world rankings, followed by France and Brazil. In Asia, Japan stayed on top, followed by Iran and South Korea.

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Source: VnExpress