Vietnam join group of two Southeast Asian teams in 2026 World Cup qualifiers
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Based on the FIFA order table, AFC ranked Vietnam in the second group of 46 teams participating in the draw and is the only Southeast Asian team to participate in the first two groups. Therefore, the possibility of coach Philippe Troussier's teachers and students facing rivals in the same area is very high.
A draw from the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) deputy general secretary Shin Man Gill put Vietnam in Group F. Previously, this group had the Philippines (group three) and the winner of the play-off pair between Indonesia and Brunei. (group of four). The first team in this group is Iraq. This can be considered an easy table for Vietnam when avoiding strong teams in group one and meeting two familiar opponents in the same Southeast Asia region.
In Group C, due to being in the third group, Thailand met Korea, China and the winner of the Singapore - Guam pair. Due to Korea's superior level, the remaining ticket in this table is likely to be a competition between Thailand and China.
At the 2026 World Cup, FIFA has increased the number of teams participating in the finals to 48 teams, of which Asia has 8.5 seats. As a result, the AFC has also made some changes to the qualifying format. Accordingly, the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Asia will consist of four rounds, of which the first two rounds are also the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
Round 1 includes 20 teams with the lowest order among 46 Asian teams based on FIFA table in July 2023. The 20 teams are divided into 10 pairs, playing one home and one away match on 12 and 17 October 2023 respectively. The 10 winners from Round 1 will advance to Round 2.
AFC conducted the first round draw at 13:00 today and determined 10 match pairs, including: Afghanistan - Mongolia, Maldives - Bangladesh, Singapore - Guam, Yemen - Sri Lanka, Myanmar - Macau, Cambodia - Pakistan, Taipei China - Timor Leste, Indonesia - Brunei, Hong Kong - Bhutan and Nepal - Laos.
Round 2 includes 36 teams, including the top 26 Asian teams according to FIFA table in July 2023 and 10 winners in round 1. Vietnam is ranked 15th in Asia, so it will start participating from this round. .
The 36 teams are divided into nine groups of four teams each, playing in a round-robin (home - away) from November 2023 to June 2024 for ranking points. The first and second ranked teams in each group will advance to the third round (18 teams in total), and directly qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup finals. The remaining 18 teams will go directly to the third qualifying round (also the third qualifying round). final qualifying round) of the 2027 Asian Cup.
The draw for the 3rd round of the 2026 World Cup - Asia will be held in 2024. The 18 winners of the 2nd round will be divided into three groups of six teams each playing a two-legged round-robin at home - away. The top two teams in each group qualify for the 2026 World Cup Finals, with the third and fourth placed teams (total of six) advancing to Round 4, also known as the Asian Play-off Round.
The six teams in the Asian play-off round are divided into two groups of three teams each, which will compete in a round-robin format at the meeting place. The two first-placed teams will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the second-placed teams from both groups will compete in the knockout stages in a home and away format to determine which team will play in the play-offs. intercontinental.
