Vietnam women's team begins journey to conquer World Cup for the second time

Vietnam women's team begins new journey - Photo: VFF

On the afternoon of March 27, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) conducted the draw for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifying round. Before the draw, with the world ranking 37th and Asia ranking 6th, the Vietnamese women's team was placed in the number 1 seed group by the AFC.

The result puts the Vietnamese women's team in a very easy group E with Guam (ranked 96), UAE (ranked 112) and Maldives (ranked 163). Notably, Vietnam is also the host of this group.

The 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers will take place from June 23 to July 5, 2025. The 34 participating teams will be divided into eight groups, with six groups of four teams and two groups of five teams. The top eight teams will qualify for the finals in Australia.

Evaluating the draw results, coach Mai Duc Chung shared: "Among the 3 teams in the same group, the Vietnamese women's team has only played against Maldives in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers.

Although the Vietnamese women's team won 16-0 in that match, recently countries in the continent have been investing and changing strongly, so we cannot be subjective."

Coach Mai Duc Chung talks with Vietnamese female players - Photo: VFF

"For UAE women's football, on March 22, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club welcomed Abu Dhabi Women's Club from the UAE and won 5-4. Through that match, it can be seen that UAE women's football has many physical advantages with naturalized players.

The Guam women's team is a new opponent to the Vietnam women's team. However, through preliminary information, this is also an opponent with physical strength and power," added Mr. Mai Duc Chung.

As planned, to prepare for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese women's team is expected to have its first training session and compete in an international friendly match in Hanoi in May.

Currently, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the coaching staff are actively working and preparing to arrange a training schedule with the highest professional quality for the Vietnam women's team.

Coach Mai Duc Chung said: "We will select the best force through the U19 tournament and the National Cup, add young players to practice with experienced players, and prepare the best squad for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers as well as the 33rd SEA Games at the end of this year."

Compete for tickets to the 2027 Women's World Cup

At the 2026 Women's Asian Cup finals in Australia, the four winning teams in the quarterfinals will qualify directly to Brazil for the 2027 Women's World Cup. The four losing teams will play in the play-in round to determine the remaining two direct tickets to the 2027 Women's World Cup.

The two losing teams in the 2026 Women's Asian Cup play-in round will play a play-off against another continent in the hope of winning a ticket to Brazil.

The Vietnamese women's team participated in the 2023 Women's World Cup in New Zealand. However, this time it will not be easy when the "senior" DPRK has returned to compete.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-nu-viet-nam-bat-dau-hanh-trinh-chinh-phuc-world-cup-lan-hai-20250327165503323.htm