Ahead of the last two World Cup qualifying matches, which took place in March, the Gold Star Warriors stood at the 98th position with 1218.55 points.
In the home clash against Oman on March 24, coach Park Hang-seo’s side conceded a 0-1 defeat which deprived them of 3.17 rating points and put them at risk of being knocked out of the world’s Top 100.
However, five days later, Vietnam played a tenacious away match against powerhouse Japan and concluded their World Cup qualifying campaign with an encouraging 1-1 draw. The result earned the Golden Star Warriors an additional 7.37 rating points, increasing their total to 1225.92 points and helping them defend their Top 100 place in the FIFA rankings.
Vietnam remained the top-ranked team in Southeast Asia, 15 places above Thailand, which moved up one notch to the 112th position in the world.
In Asia, Park’s troops stood at 16th, while Iran (world no. 21), Japan (world no. 23) and the Republic of Korea (world no. 29) occupied the top three spots with 1564.49, 1553.44 and 1519.54 points, respectively.
The top ten teams in the latest FIFA men's world rankings.
Brazil snatched the world’s top spot from Belgium thanks to their recent victories over Chile (4-0) and Bolivia (4-0) in the World Cup 2022 Qualifiers.
The next top-ten teams included Belgium (-1), France, Argentina, England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico (+3) and the Netherlands.
Costa Rica (world no. 31) and New Zealand (world no. 101) saw the biggest promotion in the latest FIFA rankings, climbing up 11 and 10 places, respectively.
