Vietnam's big win over Bangladesh still brings no good news from FIFA

Despite a convincing 3-0 victory over Bangladesh, Vietnam's national team only gained modest points on the FIFA ranking table, meaning the dream of entering the top 100 still has to wait.

On March 26 evening (Vietnam time), the Vietnam national team secured a convincing 3-0 victory against Bangladesh within the FIFA Days framework. However, the joy was not complete as Coach Kim Sang-sik and his players hardly made significant improvement on the FIFA ranking.

Even though they easily defeated the opponent ranked 181st in the world, Vietnam's national team only gained an additional 2.38 points. According to the real-time updated FIFA ranking table, the "Golden Star Warriors" now have a total of 1,216 points, which is still insufficient to create a significant breakthrough.

This result means Vietnam's national team remains "stuck in place" in the race to enter the world's top 100, even though the gap has been significantly narrowed. Currently, the positions just above—such as Tajikistan (ranked 100th with 1,224.93 points), Trinidad & Tobago (ranked 99th with 1,225.30 points), Mozambique (ranked 101st with 1,224.31 points), or Luxembourg (ranked 102nd with 1,218.91 points)—are not too far apart in terms of points.

The modest points gained come from the nature of the match. This was only an international friendly, so the point calculation coefficient is low, leading to the situation where even a big win does not bring much advantage in terms of ranking.

Nevertheless, the opportunity for Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team to break through remains ahead. At 7 PM on March 31, Vietnam's national team will enter an important match against Malaysia at Thiên Trường Stadium (Ninh Bình), which is the final match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying round.

Unlike the match against Bangladesh, the encounter with Malaysia carries much greater significance as it will be calculated with the highest coefficient. If they win, Vietnam's national team could gain approximately 9.75 additional points, thereby raising the total points to an expected level of 1,225.75.

In a favorable scenario, this would be a stepping stone helping Vietnam's national team return to the world's top 100 for the first time after nearly two years. However, this door does not depend solely on the result of Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team; it also depends on whether direct competitors like Tajikistan or Trinidad & Tobago stumble during the March FIFA Days matches.

The victory over Bangladesh has positive professional significance, but clearly, to turn the ambition of reaching the top 100 into reality, Vietnam's national team needs more than that in the upcoming crucial battle.