Repeating the bitter scenario

Vietnam National Team 2-3 Iraq

On the evening of January 24th, the Vietnamese national team suffered a 2-3 defeat against Iraq. This was a disappointing result because coach Philippe Troussier's team seemed poised to secure a point when they equalized 2-2 in the first minute of added time in the second half. In the final seconds, Iraq were awarded a penalty, which Aymen Hussein converted to score the winning goal, securing a 3-2 victory.

Once again, the Vietnamese team suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Iraq due to a last-minute goal. This is the fourth time the West Asian team has brought sadness to Vietnamese fans and players in this manner.

In 2015, during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese national team took a 1-0 lead against Iraq thanks to a goal from Le Cong Vinh. However, Younis Mahmoud snatched a point for the visitors with a goal in the 7th minute of added time in the second half.

The second match in which the Vietnamese national team conceded a late goal against Iraq was the group stage clash at the 2019 Asian Cup. Ali Adnan scored a spectacular free-kick in the 90th minute to seal a 3-2 victory for Iraq.

The third time the two teams decided the winner in the final minutes was the match at My Dinh Stadium last November, during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region. Mohanad Ali's close-range header secured a 1-0 victory for the West Asian team.

Aymen Hussein scored the winning goal for Iraq.

Historically, the Vietnamese national team has faced Iraq six times. The Southeast Asian representatives drew once and lost five times. This coming June, the Vietnamese national team will meet Iraq again in the second leg of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Besides the three unfortunate goals conceded at the end of the second half, the Vietnamese team also lost once in injury time of the first half against Iraq. That was the second leg of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers away from home. The Vietnamese team defended well but still conceded a goal close to halftime.

The Vietnamese national team was eliminated after the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup. Coach Philippe Troussier's team lost all three matches, scoring 4 goals and conceding 8. The goalscorers for Vietnam were Nguyen Dinh Bac, Pham Tuan Hai, Bui Hoang Viet Anh, and Nguyen Quang Hai.

This is the first time the Vietnamese national team has failed to advance beyond the group stage of the Asian Cup. In their two previous appearances in the tournament in 2007 and 2019, the Vietnamese team reached the quarter-finals on both occasions.

Currently, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian representative guaranteed a place in the next round, with one match remaining. Indonesia finished third in Group D and must await the results of Groups E and F. Malaysia, similar to Vietnam, was eliminated early after defeats against Jordan and Bahrain.