The Vietnam team will take the field with its strongest lineup in the match against the Philippines.

Coach Philippe Troussier said that even if the Vietnamese team made mistakes in the opening match of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup against the Philippines, this was normal.

Vietnam team practices at Rizal Memorial Stadium, Philippines. (Source: VFF)

On the evening of November 15, the Vietnamese team had its final training session at Rizal Memorial Stadium to prepare for the opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, against the host Philippines (6:00 p.m. on November 16).

This is an official training session according to the regulations so it only lasts for 60 minutes. However, this does not affect the team's expertise because in fact, coach Philippe Troussier and his students have completed the necessary work in yesterday's important training session.

In this training session, the Vietnamese team mainly practiced anti-high ball exercises to deal with the players of the Philippine team.

The good news for coach Philippe Troussier is that all the players are in top physical condition, no one has any injury problems. It is almost certain that the Vietnamese team will field their strongest lineup in the away match in the Philippines.

At the end of the training session, the 68-year-old coach told the whole team: "There may still be mistakes in the match with the Philippines, but it's okay, we will do it again in the following situations. The important thing is that the whole team must always have a positive attitude and never give up.

Everyone has to encourage each other on the field, support each other, how to create synchronization. You all have the opportunity to show that, all have information, knowledge and are ready to enter the game, and at the same time solve the match."

"Even if you play for 5 minutes or 90 minutes, or even if you don't play at all, or your name is not on the registration list, everyone must always be ready, because we not only have tomorrow's match but also the match with Iraq and the matches after that," the French coach emphasized.

According to the regulations of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, before each match, teams will register a list of 23 players. This list will not be "fixed" but can change for each match depending on the head coach's personnel choices, as long as the registered players are on the initial preliminary registration list.

Therefore, players whose names were not included in the match against the Philippines still have a chance to return in the next matches.

Source