Interestingly, this position also coincides with the ranking that the Vietnamese men's national football team currently has in the FIFA rankings. In Asia alone, V.League 1 ranks 11th, after the leagues of Japan (J1 League, J2 League), South Korea (K.League 1, 2), Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Thailand, China and Uzbekistan. Among these, Thailand's top league ranks 76th.
Obviously, even when the new season has not yet started, V.League jumping up to 8 places and entering the Top 100 is good news. This progress is partly recognition from the self-renovation efforts of the organizers, the more professional investment of clubs, the efforts of each player and the companionship of the media and fans in recent years.
However, if we temporarily ignore the title "Top 100" to scrutinize Opta's scoring criteria, joy needs to be placed next to alertness. The points of V.League 1 are actually being "carried" by a few top teams, including teams that have fought and made their mark in regional or continental tournaments. But behind that is a fairly large gap, along with countless side difficulties that probably need no further mention.
When Opta's research is based on more than 15,000 clubs (both men and women), looking at the overall picture, you will see even harsher reality. V.League is still ranked above the leagues of Malaysia (113), Indonesia (123), but not too happy because of that. Because Opta's rankings count 317 leagues globally, recording the fourth division of Japan, Korea or Thai League 2 (179) and Thai League 3 (249) of Thailand. Vietnam's V.League 2 "disappeared", as evidence that the foundation of Vietnamese football is still too thin and lacks systematism.
The 99th position of V.League 1 is a signal of positive movement, but not enough to represent the comprehensive progress of the entire football background in reality. It is impossible to demand a sudden change in just one morning or one afternoon, but clearly, searching, discussing together and implementing appropriate and substantial solutions has become more urgent, as the frequency of talking about the World Cup dream is increasing.
