In the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia will be in Group F with Iraq. In this group, except for Iraq, which is considered the strongest, 3 teams from Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines will compete for second place in the group.
According to the regulations of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, the top two teams in each group in the second qualifying round (there are a total of 9 groups) will qualify for the third qualifying round.
Therefore, the teams Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, when competing for second place in Group F, are also competing for a ticket to the third qualifying round.
The Vietnamese team will face many challenges in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers (Photo: AP).
Currently, the teams are busily preparing for the second qualifying round, which will start from November 16 and last until June 11, 2024.
Indonesia is probably one of the Southeast Asian teams with the highest determination to win a ticket to the World Cup finals. The archipelago nation is "Westernizing" its core force.
Indonesia's defense currently has 3 players playing in Europe, including center back Elkan Baggott (1m94, playing for Cheltenham Town Club in England), right back Sandy Walsh (1m84, playing for KV Mechelen Club, Belgium) and left back Shayne Pattynama (1m86, playing for Viking FK Club, Norway).
Above, the team from the archipelago has striker Rafael Struick (1m87, playing for ADO Den Haag Club, Netherlands).
Coach Shin Tae Yong's Indonesian team is "Europeanizing" its squad (Photo: CNN Indonesia).
Not only that, Indonesia announced that they have completed the naturalization of Nathan Tjoe-A-On (1m82). Nathan Tjoe-A-On is playing for Swansea City in the Championship (the second highest division in the professional football system in England, just below the Premier League). This player can play in 2 positions: center back and left back.
These players were born and raised in Europe, matured with European football, so have clear advantages in terms of physique, physical strength, and impact strength.
That shows that Indonesian football clearly intends to go beyond the Southeast Asian region. They choose players of Indonesian origin living in Europe, to quickly improve the weakest point of Southeast Asians when playing sports , which is body shape and physical strength.
In addition to players playing in Europe, the Indonesian team also has some faces playing in Japan and South Korea. They include left-back Pratama Arhan (Tokyo Verdy, Japan), or captain midfielder Asnawi Mangkualam (Jeonnam Dragons, South Korea).
This is a truly formidable force of Indonesian football that the Vietnamese team needs to be wary of in the World Cup qualifiers.
Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge of the Philippines is playing for Birmingham City Club in England (Photo: Getty).
Another opponent of ours, the Philippines, also made some changes before entering the World Cup qualifiers.
Just a few months ago, the Philippines had a new coach, Mr. Michael Weiss (German, leading the Philippine team since June). This person is quite knowledgeable about Southeast Asian football, thanks to his long time leading the Philippine team before (from 2011 - 2014) and the Laos team (from 2022 - 2023).
The most notable face of the Philippines is goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who plays for Birmingham City in the English Championship.
Unlike previous AFF Cups, in the World Cup qualifiers, goalkeeper Neil Etherridge will regularly wear the Philippine national team jersey.
The World Cup qualifiers fall under FIFA Days (the days when teams around the world compete internationally, according to the FIFA schedule), so the Birmingham City goalkeeper can comfortably contribute to the national team.
Previously, the Philippines was still inferior to the Vietnamese team in terms of sharpness. But with the current situation of the Vietnamese team becoming weaker in aerial balls, the Philippines has become dangerous for Coach Troussier's team.
Coach Michael Weiss's team are extremely good at aerial balls, thanks to a squad of tall players with European and North American roots.
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