Vietnam team rises to 114th place on FIFA rankings; Ending speculation that Park Hang-seo will lead Malaysia team

FIFA Rankings Q4/2024: Vietnam Women's Team No. 1 in Southeast Asia

According to the FIFA rankings for the fourth quarter of 2024, in Southeast Asia, the Vietnamese women's team (37th in the world) is ranked above the following teams: Philippines (41st), Thailand (45th), Myanmar (55th), Indonesia (94th). Notably, the Indonesian women's team has returned to the world's top 100, after winning the 2024 Southeast Asian Women's Football Cup.

Meanwhile, the Lao women's team was deducted 34.86 points, falling 16 places on the rankings. In the top group of the world, the US women's team is still in the number one position, with 2,087.55 points. Following them are the teams: Spain, Germany, England, Sweden, Canada, Brazil...

In Asia, the leading team is Japan's women's team (8th in the world, down 1 place); Democratic People's Republic of Korea (9th in the world); Australia (15th in the world, down 3 places); China (17th in the world, up 1 place), South Korea (20th in the world, up 1 place).

Vietnam team rises to 114th place on FIFA rankings

A 1-0 victory over Indonesia in the group stage of the AFF Cup 2024 on the evening of December 15,Vietnam teamNot only did they break a three-match losing streak against this opponent, but they also moved up the FIFA rankings.

According to Football Ranking, the victory over Indonesia helped the "Golden Star Warriors" gain 2.37 points, moving up 1 place to 114th in the world. Meanwhile, Indonesia dropped 2 places to 127th in the world.

Previously, the Vietnam team also received an additional 1.3 points from the victory over the Laos team to move from 116th to 115th in the world.

At the group stage of AFF Cup 2024, the teamCoach Kim Sang-sikThere are two more matches against the Philippines and Myanmar. If they get good results before these two matches, the Vietnam team will likely continue to move up the FIFA rankings.

Moving to Spain, Mbappé is still the best in France

France Football magazine has voted Kylian Mbappé as the best French player of the 2023-2024 season.

The France captain won the award in his seventh and final season at PSG, a season in which he led the French capital club to a third consecutive Ligue 1 title, the French Cup and the Champions League semi-finals.

In the France Football poll, Mbappé scored 56 points, five more than 23-year-old William Saliba. The former AS Saint-Étienne and Olympique de Marseille centre-back had a stellar campaign, featuring in the Premier League Team of the Season as the Gunners chased Manchester City. This was also the year Saliba cemented his place as a regular starter for the French national team.

"You have to be fair, William Saliba also deserves this title," Mbappé told France Football, expressing his gratitude to his teammate on the French national team.

Ending speculation that Mr. Park Hang-seo will lead the Malaysian team

On December 16, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) officially appointed 46-year-old Australian expert Peter Cklamovski as head coach of the national team, ending speculation about inviting him.Park Hang-seo.

New coach Peter Cklamovski is tasked with helping the Malaysian team perform well and qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup through the final qualifying round from March 2025 to March 2026, in addition to improving their FIFA rankings.

Peter Cklamovski, 46, started out as an amateur player but retired at 24 to become a coach. He was an assistant coach for the Australian team that won the 2015 Asian Cup, and coached the Australian U17 team and several Japanese clubs before taking charge of his first national team, Malaysia.

According to Malaysian media, Mr. Cklamovski is on the shortlist with Mr. Park Hang-seo (68 years old, Korean, former head coach of the Vietnam national team).

Ultimately, the Australian coach was selected for his understanding of Asian football and is expected to develop sports science applications for the Malaysian team thanks to his qualifications and practical experience.

FAM's decision ends speculation about Park Hang-seo leading the Malaysian team.

Previously, FAM President Mohd Amin revealed that Mr. Park Hang-seo had intended to terminate his contract with the Vietnamese team early in 2021 to work in Malaysia. When coach Kim Pan-gon resigned from the Malaysian team in July 2024, Mr. Mohd Amin attracted attention when he said that Mr. Park had applied for the job and was shortlisted. However, at that time, Mr. Park's representative denied it./.