According to information from the Vietnam Football Federation, on July 27, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will draw lots to divide the groups for the 1st and 2nd Qualifiers of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Asia, which is also the Qualifiers of the 2027 Asian Cup. Head coach Philippe Troussier will represent the Vietnam National Team to attend this event.
At the 2026 World Cup, the International Football Federation (FIFA) increased the number of teams participating in the final round to 40 teams, of which Asia has 8.5 places. Therefore, the Asian Football Confederation has also made some changes to the qualifying round format. Accordingly, the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers will consist of 4 rounds, of which the first 2 rounds are the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
Round 1 includes the 18 lowest-ranked teams out of 45 teams in Asia based on the FIFA rankings of July 2023. The teams are divided into 9 pairs, playing one home match and one away match on October 12 and 17 respectively. There are 9 winning teams in Round 1 that will advance to Round 2.
Round 2 includes 36 teams, including the top 27 Asian teams according to the FIFA rankings in July 2023 and 9 winning teams in round 1. The Vietnamese team is ranked 15th in Asia so it will start participating from this round.
The 36 teams will be divided into 9 groups of 4 teams each, playing a double round-robin (home and away) from November 2023 to June 2024 to calculate the ranking points. The first and second placed teams in each group will qualify for the third round (a total of 18 teams), and will also directly qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup Finals. The remaining 18 teams will go straight to the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.
The draw for the third round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia will take place in 2024. The 18 winners of the second round will be divided into three groups of six teams each, playing home and away in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals, while the third and fourth-placed teams (a total of six teams) will advance to the fourth round, also known as the Asian play-offs.
The six teams in the Asian play-offs are divided into two groups of three teams each, and will play each other in a round-robin format at the venue. The top two teams will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the second-placed teams in both groups will play a home-and-away knockout match to determine who will advance to the intercontinental play-off.
According to baotintuc.vn
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