Vietnam team promoted to FIFA rank after victory over Nepal, Indonesia in danger

Vietnam team rises again

After a period of continuous decline and loss of points in the FIFA rankings, the Vietnamese team has shown a remarkable recovery journey after not playing in the FIFA Days in September. The victory over Nepal marked the beginning of the journey for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team to return.

The Vietnamese team shows its remarkable recovery journey.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Goals from Nguyen Tien Linh in the 9th minute, Pham Xuan Manh in the 67th minute and Nguyen Van Vi in the 72nd minute helped the Vietnamese team to an easy 3-1 victory over the underdog Nepal. The South Asian team only caused a slight surprise when Sanish equalized 1-1 in the 17th minute.

This victory helped the Vietnamese team gain 6.98 points for a total of 1,176.9 points, according to Footy Rankings (specializing in calculating FIFA rankings). Thereby, they moved up 1 place from 114th in the September FIFA rankings to 113th in the world .

The Vietnamese team still has one match against Nepal at 7:30 p.m. on October 14 at Thong Nhat Stadium (HCMC). This is the return match in the fourth round of the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

Nepal national team coach regrets red card, more determined in second leg against Vietnam

Nepal chose Thong Nhat Stadium as their home ground because the domestic stadium conditions were not good. This created an advantage for the Vietnamese team to continue to have the advantage to win and improve their FIFA rankings. As well as continue to put pressure on the Malaysian team, who are temporarily leading Group F with 9 points after 3 wins. The Vietnamese team has 6 points after 2 wins and 1 loss.

The Malaysian team also moved up 4 places after the 3-0 win over Laos when there were no longer 7 "illegally" naturalized players sanctioned by FIFA. However, Harimau Malaya's current position (119th in the world) can be changed at any time once the FIFA penalty comes into effect and when the country's Football Federation, if unsuccessful in appealing, and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) will lose 2 matches with a score of 0-3 for using illegally naturalized players. Those were the 2-0 win over Nepal on March 25 and the 4-0 win over Vietnam on June 10.

The Indonesian team is at risk of losing the chance to participate in the 2026 World Cup and falling in the FIFA rankings if it loses again to Iraq.

Photo: Reuters

Meanwhile, the Thai team, after a 2-0 win over Taiwan on October 9, achieved two goals: returning to the world's top 100 (ranked 99) with 6.71 points (up 2 places). The "War Elephants" also increased their hopes of taking the top spot in Group D to directly qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup thanks to their main rival Turkmenistan unexpectedly losing 0-1 to Sri Lanka.

Currently, all 3 teams in Group D have 6 points after 3 matches, with Turkmenistan leading thanks to a better head-to-head difference between the 3 teams (+1), followed by Sri Lanka (0) and Thailand (-1).

In the next round, Thailand needs to continue to win against Taiwan to increase their hopes, while Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka will play again (both on October 14). The Thai team will decide their own chances when they meet Sri Lanka (November 18) and play Turkmenistan again on March 31, 2026.

In Southeast Asia, only Indonesia lost points and was relegated after losing 2-3 to Saudi Arabia in the fourth qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup in Asia on October 9.

The Indonesian team has now dropped to 120th place in the world, and is in danger of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and will continue to fall in the FIFA rankings if they lose to Iraq in their next match at 2:30 a.m. on October 12.

This is a crucial match for coach Kluivert and his team in their hopes of attending the World Cup. If they draw or lose, they will likely be eliminated.