FIFA organizes new tournament in Southeast Asia: Vietnam team has a chance to break through

(Dan Tri) - FIFA's organization of the FIFA ASEAN Cup brings many opportunities and challenges to the Vietnamese team.

At the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced the establishment of the FIFA ASEAN Cup. This is a tournament with the gathering of 11 teams in the Southeast Asian region and is not related to the AFF Cup.

The Vietnamese team has a great opportunity to break through on the FIFA rankings (Photo: Thanh Dong).

FIFA has not yet decided on the format of the tournament. However, it is almost certain that the FIFA ASEAN Cup will be held within the framework of the FIFA international competition calendar. Therefore, this tournament will likely be highly ranked in the FIFA rankings.

This creates a great opportunity for the Vietnamese team to break through on the FIFA rankings. Previously, the AFF Cup was not part of the FIFA competition system so it was given very low scores. However, if the FIFA ASEAN Cup took place during the FIFA Days (national team gatherings according to the FIFA calendar), it would be given very high scores.

If taking advantage of this opportunity, the Vietnamese team can completely accumulate significant points, improving its ranking on the FIFA rankings. This is very important when it affects the seeding of the "Golden Dragons" before each major tournament. Remember, the Vietnamese team is the champion of the AFF Cup 2024.

However, if the FIFA ASEAN Cup is held during FIFA Days, we will also face a big challenge. At that time, teams like Indonesia, Thailand or Malaysia can call up their strongest squads to participate in the tournament.

Since the AFF Cup usually takes place at the end of the year and is not part of FIFA Days, it is difficult for these teams to convince clubs (especially in the West) to release their players. Remember, in the recent AFF Cup 2024, Indonesia had to send an U22 team to participate in the tournament and was eliminated in the group stage. Meanwhile, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines also suffered a similar situation.

The Vietnamese team did not encounter this difficulty when the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) created conditions when stopping the V-League so that the team could concentrate for a whole month and go to Korea for training.

The Vietnamese team must face the strongest teams in the Southeast Asian region (Photo: VFF).

CNN Indonesia expressed excitement that Indonesia could gather its strongest force. The newspaper wrote: “Because the AFF Cup is not part of the FIFA competition system, the Indonesian team cannot gather naturalized players who play in Europe.

If the FIFA ASEAN Cup is officially launched, the Indonesian team will have the opportunity to gather the strongest force, including many players playing in top European leagues such as: Jay Idzes (Sassuolo), Calvin Verdonk (Lille), Kevin Diks (Borussia Monchengladbach) and Emil Audero (Cremonese).

The emergence of the new tournament is expected to create a new turning point for Indonesian football, helping the team demonstrate its strength against regional opponents."

However, the FIFA ASEAN Cup brings a lot of expectations to Vietnamese football. This will be a tournament where the “Golden Dragons” can assert their position when competing with the strongest squad in the region. It is completely different from the nature of the AFF Cup. As the Acting President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi declared: “The establishment of the new tournament is a historic decision for Southeast Asian football”.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/fifa-to-chuc-giai-dau-moi-o-dong-nam-a-tuyen-viet-nam-co-thoi-co-but-pha-20251027183631894.htm