National team returns to 96th in FIFA rankings

The change can be attributed to the poor performance of Trinidad & Tobago during CONCACAF 2019. At the tournament, the Caribbean nation suffered a 2-0 defeat to Panama and a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of the United States, before recording a 1-1 draw with minnows Guyana. As a result, the team lost 15.43 points, 9.58 points, and 8.88 points, respectively.

The latest rankings mean that the Vietnamese team remains ranked as the 15th best team in Asia. The team have also been seeded in group two for the upcoming draw for the World Cup 2022 qualifiers, which is scheduled to take place on July 17 in Malaysia.

Previously, the national football team had dropped one place and were ranked 97th following a string of strong performances by Haiti who enjoyed victories over Costa Rica, Bermuda, and Nicaragua during the 2019 Gold Cup.

The Haitian team added 47.7 points to their overall tally, leaving them with a total of 1266.7 points. As a result, the team were able to leap 11 places from 101st to 90th positions in the rankings.

This surge by Haiti therefore caused Vietnam to drop one place to 97th position.