The Vietnamese national team unexpectedly rose to 98th place in the FIFA rankings: what’s the reason?
Shortly before their match against Kyrgyzstan on November 17, the Vietnamese national team received incredibly positive news: they unexpectedly rose to 98th in the world rankings, thanks to Mozambique's 0-1 defeat to Ethiopia in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which led to a drop in the rankings.
Mozambique will be deducted from 23.8 to 24 points, giving the Vietnamese team the chance to climb the standings.
Before the match against Ethiopia, played on the evening of November 13, Mozambique was ranked 98th in the FIFA World Rankings with 1,238.23 points , one spot above Vietnam. Thanks to their 2-0 victory over Taiwan on November 11, the latter gained 2.35 points, reaching 1,233.64 and consolidating their 99th place in the world rankings.
The Vietnamese national team unexpectedly rose to 98th place in the FIFA rankings: what's the reason?
Shortly before their match against Kyrgyzstan on November 17, the Vietnamese national team received incredibly positive news: they unexpectedly rose to 98th in the world rankings, thanks to Mozambique's 0-1 defeat to Ethiopia in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which led to a drop in the rankings.
Mozambique will be deducted from 23.8 to 24 points, giving the Vietnamese team the chance to climb the standings.
Before the match against Ethiopia, played on the evening of November 13, Mozambique was ranked 98th in the FIFA World Rankings with 1,238.23 points , one spot above Vietnam. Thanks to their 2-0 victory over Taiwan on November 11, the latter gained 2.35 points, reaching 1,233.64 and consolidating their 99th place in the world rankings.
Vietnam are aiming for another victory against Kyrgyzstan (world ranking 104) on November 17 to continue their climb up the FIFA rankings.
Photo: Minh Hoang
However, this situation changed when Mozambique suffered a shock 0-1 defeat to Ethiopia in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on 13 November, resulting in a significant points penalty and a drop in the rankings.
Therefore, since Mozambique (98th in the FIFA rankings) is ranked higher than Ethiopia, which is ranked 147th, and since the match also has the highest coefficient in the FIFA rankings as it is an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying round, the expected number of deduction points is around 23.8-24 points.
With these points deducted, Mozambique's team is expected to drop to 99th place with just 1,214.43 points. Meanwhile, Vietnam, with 1,233.64 points, has climbed to 98th place in the world rankings.
Mozambique still has a return match against Ethiopia on November 17, hoping to regain their lead and reduce their current significant points deficit in the FIFA rankings. However, even with a victory, they would earn significantly fewer points than they lost in their November 13 defeat.
At the same time, matches of teams from this region, such as China (96th in the world ranking) against Malaysia ; Bahrain (97th) against Yemen; Tajikistan (100th) against Oman, all took place on November 14.
The results of these matches could further reshuffle the positions of the teams currently in the world's top 100, after FIFA updates and officially releases the live rankings, scheduled for November 15.
The official FIFA rankings for November's FIFA Days matches will be updated on November 18.
The Vietnamese national team has secured a spot in the top 100 in the world, with an excellent chance of continuing to climb the rankings.
As part of the FIFA Days November international friendlies, following their 2-0 victory over Taiwan on November 11, Vietnam will face Kyrgyzstan (ranked 104th in the world) on November 17 at 7pm at the Thien Truong Stadium.
If Kim Sang-sik's team wins against Kyrgyzstan, they will earn approximately 4.68 FIFA ranking points. This will add to their current score (1,233.64 points), thus consolidating Vietnam's position in the world's top 100.
Given recent developments, with Mozambique sliding down the rankings, and even if they beat Ethiopia in the rematch, they would still lose a significant number of points, it's highly likely that after the FIFA Days in November, Vietnam will rise at least one spot in the world rankings, from 99th to 98th. And finishing 2026 in the top 100 is almost certain.