Vietnam team is still number one in Southeast Asia

The Vietnamese national football team has risen in FIFA rankings, continuing to leave behind other football teams in Southeast Asia. This makes it impossible for the regional press not to acknowledge the position of the Vietnamese national football team.

Truyền thông Thái Lan: Đội tuyển Việt Nam vẫn là số một Đông Nam Á

Vietnam national football team ranked 94th in the world on the FIFA rankings in October 2023. (Source: VFF)

Thailand's leading daily Thai Rath wrote: "Even though the Vietnamese team lost all three matches in October, including losing 0-2 to China (October 10), losing 0-2 to Uzbekistan (October 13) and losing 0-6 to South Korea (October 17), the Vietnamese team still moved up in the rankings."

Thai Rath newspaper added: "Coach Troussier's team rose from 95th to 94th in the world, they are still the number one team in Southeast Asia."

Regarding the Thai team, Thai Rath newspaper said: "The Thai team is ranked 112th in the world and number two in Southeast Asia. The Golden Temple team lost 0-8 to Georgia and drew 1-1 with Estonia. The number two position in Southeast Asia is still Thailand's familiar ranking as in the past."

Meanwhile, another Thai newspaper, Siam Sport, commented on the ranking of coach Mano Polking's team, expressing its disapproval of Thailand's tour of Europe in October.

Siam Sport shared: "The FIFA rankings in October reflect the Thai team's tour in Europe."

"Thailand played two friendly matches this month, losing 0-8 to Georgia and drawing 1-1 with Estonia. The Golden Temple team has 1,177 points, keeping the 112th world ranking like last month," are still the lines written in Siam Sport.

Malaysian media also wrote about the current rankings of Southeast Asian teams. Malaysia's Vocket website said: "Malaysia is the third-ranked team in Southeast Asia. The number one team is Vietnam (ranked 94th in the world), followed by Thailand (ranked 112th in the world)."

Vocket page continued to share: "Malaysia's FIFA ranking is 137, down 3 places compared to 134th in the world last month. However, the consolation for the Malaysian team of coach Kim Pan Gon (Korean) is that they have surpassed the Philippines after 12 years. The Philippines is ranked 138th in the world, 4th in Southeast Asia."

According to this newspaper, Malaysia can join the world top 130 if it wins Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, taking place next November. Malaysia can even move up the rankings after that when it competes in the World Cup qualifiers.

Vocket FC commented: "This is the best chance for coach Kim Pan Gon's team to enter the world's top 120. The reason is because the number of points earned if they win in the World Cup qualifiers is much higher than the number of points earned if they win in friendly matches."

Source