Scenario for Vietnam futsal team to win ticket to Asian tournament

The Vietnam futsal team is participating in the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship qualifiers in China. After the 9-1 victory over Hong Kong (China) and 7-2 victory over China, coach Diego Giustozzi's team is leading Group E with 6 points, 2 points more than the second-placed team Lebanon.

The possibility for the Vietnamese futsal team to win a ticket to the Asian tournament is very high when there is only one round left in the qualifying round. So how will coach Giustozzi and his team achieve their goal of winning a ticket to the Asian tournament?

Vietnam team did not lose to Lebanon

Kịch bản đội tuyển futsal Việt Nam đoạt vé dự giải châu Á - 1 — The Vietnamese futsal team is making a strong impression in the 2026 Asian futsal qualifiers (Photo: AFC).

In the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship qualifiers, all the top teams in the group will qualify for the finals. That means, coach Giustozzi and his team must maintain their top position in Group E after the qualifiers end.

In the final match, the Vietnamese futsal team will have to compete with the second-placed team Lebanon (2:30 p.m., September 24). With a gap of 2 points, Giustozzi and his team only need not to lose the final match to be sure of being at the top of the rankings.

The Vietnamese futsal team has many advantages over Lebanon. On the FIFA rankings, the Vietnamese futsal team is ranked 26th, much higher than Lebanon's 54th. The rankings reflect the level of the teams, so it can be seen that the Vietnamese futsal team is rated at a much higher level than its opponents.

After two matches in the qualifying round, Lebanon has not really performed impressively and is not a worthy opponent for the Vietnamese team. Lebanon won 2-1 against China and drew 2-2 with Hong Kong, while the Vietnamese team won big against these opponents.

Football is not a bridge, but with the class and performance of the two teams in the qualifying round, Vietnamese fans have the right to hope for a big win this afternoon for the home team.

Losing to Lebanon is not a disaster

Kịch bản đội tuyển futsal Việt Nam đoạt vé dự giải châu Á - 2 — Vietnam futsal team (white shirt) competes in the qualifying round in China (Photo: AFC).

If the Vietnamese futsal team were to lose to Lebanon, it would not be a disaster, as Hong Kong or China cannot compete for second place in the group. A defeat would see the Vietnamese futsal team finish second in the group stage and seven of the eight second-placed teams would qualify for the finals.

In the ranking of the second-placed teams, the results only count for 2 matches (excluding the results of the bottom team) and with the big wins of the Vietnamese team (+5 in the match against China; +8 in the match against Hong Kong), the Vietnamese team will still get a ticket to continue if it is in the 6 second-placed teams according to the ranking after today.

Since Group D (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Pakistan) has not yet played, if Vietnam falls to 7th place among the second-placed teams, it is not certain that they will be eliminated. At that time, Coach Giustozzi's team will have to wait until mid-October when Group D finishes to know whether they are among the 7 best second-placed teams or not.