Vietnam team has a big advantage to participate in World Cup 2026

Indonesian newspaper Bola.Okezone highly rates the Vietnamese national team's chances of fulfilling their dream of participating in the 2026 World Cup.

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The Vietnamese national team will play two friendly matches this June. (Source: VFF)

The Vietnamese national team has set a goal of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, given that the tournament will expand to 48 teams (Asia will have 8.5 slots). Although this is a difficult task, the Indonesian newspaper Bola.Okezone still highly regards the "Golden Dragons".

In the article, the author emphasizes: "The Vietnam U22 team was eliminated in the semi-finals of the SEA Games 32 by Indonesia, but it's unlikely that the same thing will happen to the Vietnamese national team. In fact, they have a strong chance of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup."

The Vietnamese U22 team may not have shone as brightly as expected, but their predecessors are certainly much more formidable. That's why we believe they have a significant advantage in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Currently, Coach Troussier's team is seeded in Group 2 for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. This is due to the ranking of the Vietnamese national team, which is currently in the top 18 in Asia.

If this ranking is maintained until the draw for the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese national team will avoid facing many strong opponents in the same seeded group, including Uzbekistan, Jordan, Bahrain, and many others.

At that time, the Vietnamese national team only needed to focus on facing the teams in the top seed group. Perhaps, the teams in groups three and four would not be a problem for them. Therefore, the Vietnamese national team could reach the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and have a wide open door to the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico."

The Bola.Okezone newspaper also believes that the Vietnamese national team can win their two friendly matches in June against Hong Kong (China) and Syria. They added: "If they win the two upcoming friendly matches, the Vietnamese national team will gain an additional 8.06 points."

These points are enough to place the Vietnamese national team in the top 18 in Asia, thereby securing direct entry into the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the second seed group.

Coach Troussier's main task right now is to capitalize on the strengths of the team under Coach Park Hang Seo in the two matches against Hong Kong (China) and Syria. Good results for the Vietnamese national team will help fans forget the failure of the U22 team at the SEA Games 32."

According to the schedule, the Vietnamese national team will face Hong Kong (China) on June 15th. Then, on June 20th, we will play against Syria. Both matches will be held at Vietnam's home stadiums (Lach Tray Stadium and Thien Truong Stadium).

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