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National team ends year in FIFA top 100

Football

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese national team will end the year of  二0 二0 at  九 三rd place in the FIFA rankings,  一 八 spots higher than Thailand.

This ranking also helped Việt Nam enter the top  一 五 Asian teams and is the best ranking for the country in  二0 years.

Việt Nam lead Southeast Asia, followed by Thailand, world No  一 一 一.

Thailand have a total of  一, 一 七 八 points, while Việt Nam have  一, 二 五 八 points. This gap will be difficult to level until March  二0 二 一 when the second qualifying round matches for the  二0 二 二 World Cup take place.

In Asia, Japan dominated the region with  一, 五0 二 points, followed by Iran ( 一, 四 九 六 points), South Korea ( 一, 四 六 五 points), Australia ( 一, 四 五 七 points) and Qatar ( 一, 三 九 一 points). 

Belgium won six out of eight matches played this year and maintained the overall lead with  一, 七 八0 points, finishing on top for the third consecutive year.

Ranking behind Belgium are France ( 一, 七 五 五 points), Brazil ( 一, 七 四 三 points) and England ( 一, 六 七0 points)

At present, the Vietnamese national team are training at the Việt Nam Youth Football Training Centre in Hà Nội to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers.

Currently, Việt Nam lead Group G with  一 一 points after five matches, two ahead of Malaysia in second. If Việt Nam stay on the top of the group or are one of the five best second-placed teams, they will enter the final qualifying round for the first time in history.

Defender Quế Ngọc Hải is the captain of the team and is confident they can get over the line.

"I think the spirit and desire of the team are the most important thing. We have a big advantage for the remaining three games. The whole team will work together closely and determine to play well, especially the upcoming match against Malaysia on the away field,” said Hải. VNS