When did Vietnam start its journey to the championship?

Previously, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) had planned for the AFF Cup to start on November 23, 2024. However, the aforementioned time frame coincides with the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia - the playground where the Indonesian team is competing.

The third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia will have two matches taking place in November, on November 14 (Indonesia vs. Japan) and November 19 (Indonesia vs. Saudi Arabia). If the competition continues according to the old schedule, Indonesia will only have four days to prepare for the first round of matches at the 2024 AFF Cup.

Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team are aiming to reach the final of the 2024 AFF Cup.

AFF also planned to open the AFF Cup 2024 on December 9. But in the end, AFF officially set the opening date for the tournament on December 8. The second leg final, the last match of AFF Cup 2024, will take place on January 5, 2025.

Before that, on January 2, 2025, the first leg of the final will be played. Meanwhile, the two matches of the 2024 AFF Cup qualifiers between Brunei and Timor Leste will take place on October 8 and 15.

Vietnam team meets Laos on December 9

The winner of the match between Brunei and Timor Leste will be placed in Group A, alongside defending champions Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia. In Group A, Vietnam will be in the same group as Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will meet Laos on December 9.

The teams will compete in a round-robin format in the group stage, with each team playing two home matches and two away matches during the group stage, scoring points, and ranking. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals. From the semi-finals, the matches of the AFF Cup 2024 will take place in a knockout format after two home and away matches, at home and away.

The strongest candidates for the 2024 AFF Cup championship include Thailand (7-time champion: 1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2020 and 2022), Indonesia (never won), Vietnam (2-time champion: 2008 and 2018) and Malaysia (1-time champion: 2010). The second most successful team in Southeast Asia, Singapore, a four-time champion (1998, 2004, 2007 and 2012), is not highly regarded in this year's tournament.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-chinh-thuc-aff-cup-hanh-trinh-tranh-vo-dich-cua-viet-nam-tu-ngay-nao-185240827205208063.htm