Southeast Asia finalizes FIFA Days schedule for October: Vietnam team is the busiest
Báo Dân trí•03/10/2023
(Dan Tri) - The Vietnamese team played 3 matches against strong opponents in October, while the remaining teams in Southeast Asia only played 2 matches.
Specifically, the Vietnamese team will play 3 matches during the FIFA Days (a series of days when FIFA allows teams around the world to freely gather players from clubs to perform international duties), including matches against China on October 10, Uzbekistan on October 13 and Korea on October 17. All of the Vietnamese team 's matches in October will take place on the opponent's field. The two matches against China and Uzbekistan will take place in China, while the match against Korea will take place in the land of kimchi.
The Vietnamese team was extremely busy during the FIFA Days in October (Photo: Do Minh Quan).
Meanwhile, the strongest team in Southeast Asia, Thailand, has chosen Europe as their tour destination. The team from the Land of the Golden Temples will play Georgia on October 12 and Estonia on October 17, both on their home turf. The Malaysian team will play two international friendly matches in October at home. On October 13, Malaysia will face India, and on October 17, the team led by coach Kim Pan Gon (Korean) will host one of Palestine or Tajikistan. As for the Philippines, they will play away against Bahrain on October 12. Then, on October 15, the Philippines will play away against Kyrgyzstan. The next notable thing is that these Southeast Asian teams all chose opponents with higher rankings than them on the FIFA rankings to play friendly matches. The Vietnamese team is ranked 95th in the world, and will meet China (ranked 80), Uzbekistan (ranked 75) and South Korea (ranked 26) respectively.
The Thai team will travel to Europe for a tour in October (Photo: Siam Sport).
Thailand, ranked 112th in the world, will face Georgia, ranked 79th in the world. Meanwhile, Malaysia (ranked 134th in the FIFA rankings) will face India (ranked 102nd), Tajikistan (ranked 110th) or Palestine (ranked 97th). Meanwhile, the Philippines, ranked 132nd in the world, will face Bahrain, ranked 86th in the world, and then Kyrgyzstan, ranked 96th in the world. The reason why teams in the region want to play against teams ranked higher than themselves is to hone their skills, compete with the strongest opponents possible, and prepare for the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, which will take place next month. Southeast Asian teams that do not play international friendlies this October will play the first qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia. Indonesia will face Brunei, Singapore will face Guam, Myanmar will face Macau (China), Timor Leste will face Taiwan (China), Laos will face Nepal and Cambodia will face Pakistan. The play-off matches of the first round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia will take place on October 12 and October 17. International friendly match schedule of Southeast Asian teams in October (Photo: ASEAN Football).
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