The Vietnamese national team rose from 95th place in the September FIFA rankings to 94th in October. In the Asian region, coach Philippe Troussier's team maintained its 15th position and continued to lead Southeast Asia, 18 places ahead of second-placed Thailand.
The Vietnamese national team (in white jerseys) during their match against the South Korean national team.
In October, the Vietnamese national team played three international friendly matches, including two official matches as per FIFA Days regulations. These included a 0-2 loss to China (ranked 80th in the world ) and a 0-6 loss to South Korea (ranked 26th in the world), resulting in a total deduction of 6.89 points. The remaining match, a 0-2 loss to Uzbekistan (ranked 75th in the world), did not count towards the points awarded.
Contrary to predictions that the deduction of points would lead to a drop in the FIFA rankings, the Vietnamese national team actually rose in the rankings. This was thanks to the fact that their rivals ranked close to them either dropped significantly or failed to climb up. Specifically, the Armenian national team in the European region (ranked 91st in September) dropped 4 places due to a deduction of 20.22 points, after losing 0-2 to Latvia (ranked 136th) in the EURO 2024 qualifiers and 1-3 to North Macedonia (in a friendly match).
The Kyrgyzstan team (ranked 96th in September) also dropped one place, having lost 0-2 to Bahrain and 0-1 to the Philippines (in friendly matches). The Palestine team (ranked 97th in September) did not compete this time and withdrew from the Merdeka tournament in Malaysia, so they also had no chance of overtaking the Vietnam team.
In Southeast Asia, the Thai national team had a European tour where they lost 0-8 to Georgia and drew 1-1 with Estonia. Thailand lost 4.06 points, remaining ranked 112th in the world and 21st in Asia.
The Indonesian national team, Vietnam's opponent in Group F of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, climbed two places to 145th in the world rankings thanks to two wins in the preliminary round against Brunei with a total score of 12-0. However, Indonesia remains ranked 27th in Asia and 5th in Southeast Asia. Both Malaysia and the Philippines dropped three to six places respectively in October, falling to 137th and 138th in the world rankings (24th and 25th in Asia, 3rd and 4th in Southeast Asia).
The Vietnamese national team (left) is encouraged by their rise in the FIFA rankings as they prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November.
The other team in Group F of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, along with Vietnam, is Iraq. In October, they played a friendly tournament in Jordan, both ending in draws. This included a 0-0 draw (losing on penalties) against Qatar and a 2-2 draw (winning on penalties) against host nation Jordan in the third-place playoff. Iraq remains ranked 69th in the world and 8th in Asia.
In November, the Vietnamese national team will officially begin their campaign in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for the Asian region in Group F, with two matches: an away game against the Philippines at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on November 16th, followed by a home game against Iraq at My Dinh Stadium on November 21st.
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