After winning the AFF Cup, the Vietnamese team is looking towards the Asian Cup qualifiers.

(Dan Tri) - The most important task of the Vietnamese team in 2025 is the Asian Cup qualifiers. The third qualifying round of this tournament has 6 matches, of which 5 matches will take place this year.

The third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup will take place from March 25, 2025 to March 31, 2026, with 6 matches in each group. The Vietnamese team is in Group F with Malaysia, Laos and Nepal. The format of the third qualifying round is that the teams play a round-robin, at home and away.

The top 6 teams from the 6 qualifying groups will qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup finals, along with the 18 teams that have already secured tickets. The 18 teams that have secured tickets to the 2027 Asian Cup are the 18 teams currently participating in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup (including the hosts of the Saudi Arabian finals).

Sau ngôi vô địch AFF Cup, đội tuyển Việt Nam hướng về vòng loại Asian Cup - 1 — The Vietnamese team is determined to win a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup finals (Photo: Huong Duong).

In the group of the Vietnamese team, our biggest opponent is predicted to be Malaysia. The matches with Malaysia will take place on June 10 this year (first leg), at Bukit Jalil Stadium (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and on March 31, 2026 (second leg), at the home stadium of the Vietnamese team.

Alternating between matches against Malaysia, the Vietnamese team will play in the third qualifying round of Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup, against Laos on March 25 this year, at home.

On October 9, coach Kim Sang Sik's team (Korean) continued to host the Nepalese team at home. Five days later, on October 14, we moved to Kathmandu (Nepal), to play away against this team in the second leg.

On November 18, the Vietnamese team will play away at the Laos National Stadium in Vientiane, against the Lao team. This is the 5th match of the 3rd qualifying round. The 6th match, the final match, will take place on March 31, 2026, when the Vietnamese team will host the Malaysian team at home, as mentioned above.

The advantage of this schedule is that our most important match at the end of the qualifying round is a home match (against Malaysia). Coach Kim Sang Sik's team will receive the support of the home crowd, in case we need to put all our efforts into competing for a ticket to the final round.

Sau ngôi vô địch AFF Cup, đội tuyển Việt Nam hướng về vòng loại Asian Cup - 2 — Xuan Son was injured in the first few matches of the qualifying round, will Tien Linh (left) play the role of the main striker of the Vietnamese team? (Photo: Do Minh Xuan).

In terms of expertise, it is highly likely that the Vietnamese team will be without key striker Nguyen Xuan Son in the first few matches. Xuan Son will not be able to play in the matches against Laos on March 25 and Malaysia on June 10. The reason is that Xuan Son is injured.

However, coach Kim Sang Sik still has many good strikers, such as Tien Linh, Vi Hao, Tuan Hai, Van Toan. The team's scoring ability is still very impressive when having the above names in the squad. All of the above players scored at the AFF Cup 2024.

When Xuan Son returns in the matches taking place at the end of this year and early next year, the Vietnamese team will be very formidable. The opportunity to win a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup finals lies in the hands of coach Kim Sang Sik's team.

Another notable detail is that the Vietnamese team has continuously participated in the Asian Football Championship since the 2019 tournament. This shows that the Vietnamese team has high stability in the continental playground.