>>> Members of national men’s football team receive COVID-19 vaccinations
Accordingly, Vietnam gained additional 0.06 points to claim 1258.06 points in total, thus moving up one place compared to last month’s rankings.
The 92nd position is also the 2nd best ranking in the history of the Vietnamese team in the FIFA rankings. The team achieved their best position in history in September 1998, when they were ranked 84th in the world.
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam still hold the lead. Meanwhile, the Thai team still rank 2nd in the region but moved up four places in the FIFA rankings to No. 106. Following are the Philippines (No. 125), Myanmar (No. 139) and Malaysia (No. 153).
In Asia, coach Park Hang-seo’s side also moved up by one place to rank 13th. The Japanese team (No. 28 in the world) are still leading the continent, followed by Iran (No. 31), the Republic of Korea (No. 39) and Australia (No. 41).
Vietnam are now ranked 13th among the Top 15 leading teams in Asia. (Photo: AFC)
In the Top 10 in the world, the six leading positions remain unchanged, with Belgium taking the lead, followed by France, Brazil, England, Portugal and Spain.
The next rankings will be announced on May 27.
The April’s rankings feature some changes as the points total for each team is now calculated to two decimal places to enhance precision.
In addition, with more than 185 matches played last month, mainly 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying, the rankings of the teams have changed a lot.
Although no having played any matches in the last month, the Vietnamese team have still been promoted because the above-ranked competitors did not perform well in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Vietnam currently top Group G of the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for Asia, with 11 points, followed by Malaysia with nine and Thailand with eight. The UAE has six points, while Indonesia is yet to pick up any.
The remaining games in this group will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Vietnam will play Indonesia on June 7, Malaysia four days later, and will then wrap up the qualifiers with a game against the hosts UAE on June 15.
It is expected that after matchday 13 of the LS V.League 1, Vietnam team will gather in Hanoi on May 10. Coach Park Hang-seo has three weeks of training before deciding the final squad to send to the UAE on May 31.
The first members of the team and head coach Park received COVID-19 vaccinations on April 5.