Vietnam team faces Malaysia, Laos in Asian Cup qualifiers

(Dan Tri) - On the afternoon of December 9, AFC conducted the draw for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. The Vietnamese team is in the same group with Malaysia, Laos and Nepal.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held the draw for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon (December 9). The 24 teams were divided into 6 groups for the final qualifying round, each group consisting of 4 teams. The top 6 teams in each group will qualify for the biggest football tournament in Asia in 2027 in Saudi Arabia. The draw of luck put the Vietnamese team in Group F with two Southeast Asian opponents, Malaysia and Laos. The remaining team, Nepal, is considered the weakest in the group.

Đội tuyển Việt Nam đối đầu Malaysia, Lào ở vòng loại Asian Cup - 1

The Vietnamese team fell into a favorable group in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers (Photo: Do Minh Quan).

This is a favorable draw for coach Kim Sang Sik's team, as along with Nepal, Laos is not highly regarded in Southeast Asia. This is the opponent that the Vietnamese team will face on the opening day of the AFF Cup 2024 today. Malaysia is considered the most formidable opponent for the Vietnamese team. However, this team has declined quite a bit after coach Kim Pan Gon left and was held to a 2-2 draw by Cambodia on the opening day of the AFF Cup 2024. Compared to other teams in the second seed group, Malaysia is rated lower than Turkmenistan, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Hong Kong (China) and Yemen. Similarly, in the third seed group, Nepal is also weaker than Singapore, Maldives, Taiwan (China), Myanmar and Bhutan. The Thai team falls into a more difficult group, when facing Turkmenistan, Taiwan (China) and Sri Lanka. The Philippines, Myanmar and Singapore are also in a group that promises to be difficult. After the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Asian region has selected 18 teams to participate in the 2027 Asian Cup, including Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Oman, Indonesia, China, Bahrain, North Korea, Kuwait, Palestine and Kyrgyzstan. The top 6 teams in the 6 groups of the final round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers will win tickets to the tournament in Saudi Arabia. The matches will take place from March to September 2025.