In the global rankings, according to the FIFA rankings for December, which also concludes 2024, the Vietnamese women's national team remains ranked 37th and 6th in Asia. This position allows Coach Mai Duc Chung's team to continue dominating the top spot in Southeast Asia for many years.
The Vietnamese women's national team in a friendly match in October.
The Thai women's national team is currently ranked 3rd in the region, 45th in the world, and 9th in Asia, behind the Philippines women's national team, although the latter dropped two places to 41st in the world and 7th in Asia.
Faced with this situation, the President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), Madam Pang (the billionaire Nualphan Lamsam), was very uneasy and took special action in the hope of bringing women's football in the country back to its golden age.
Accordingly, Madam Pang established a special team of scouts tasked with searching for and selecting players of Thai descent from all over the world to supplement the Thai women's national team.
The ambition of the female billionaire, currently the President of FAT, is to bring the Thai women's national team back to the World Cup after their absence in 2023. The 2023 Women's World Cup will also be the first time the Vietnamese women's national team has qualified to participate.
At the upcoming Women's World Cup in 2027, to be held in Brazil, the Asian region has 6 qualifying spots, including 2 play-off spots. The Vietnamese women's national team is currently rebuilding its squad with the goal of qualifying for the World Cup for the second consecutive time.
Meanwhile, the Thai women's national team is running a campaign called "Road to Brazil 2027" under Madam Pang, inviting players of Thai descent from around the world to submit applications for review and evaluation by the FAT's technical team before selection.
FIFA rankings for December 2024, with the Vietnamese women's national team ranked number 1 in Southeast Asia.
In its announcement, FAT stated that the governing body will begin accepting applications from female players of Thai descent on January 17, 2025. They will then undergo tests and selection processes to join the Thai women's national team preparing for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil.
Similar to the Thai women's national team, the Indonesian women's national team has recently seen a strong push by the country's football governing body (PSSI) to naturalize players, just like the men's team. Following their victory in the recent AFF Cup 2024 in Laos, the Indonesian women's team has climbed 7 places into the top 100 in the world and is ranked 5th in Southeast Asia.
The Indonesian women's national team's progress and significant changes in personnel indicate their goal of competing with the Vietnamese, Thai, and Philippine women's teams in regional tournaments. Further afield, they aim to qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-so-1-dong-nam-a-nam-2024-madam-pang-co-dong-thai-soc-185241215102150495.htm
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