Assessing the chances of Southeast Asian teams entering the third qualifying round, Malaysia has a "bright chance"

Among the Southeast Asian teams in the second qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup, the Vietnamese team continued to impress despite losing to Iraq. The only team with all wins was Malaysia.

World Cup 2026 vòng loại khu vực châu Á: Đội tuyển Malaysia và khả năng vào vòng loại thứ 3 sau 2 trận toàn thắng 2 lượt trận

Vietnam national football team players compete in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers at My Dinh Stadium on the evening of November 21. (Source: VFF)

In the second round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers last night (November 21), out of 7 Southeast Asian teams, two teams won. Specifically, Thailand beat Singapore 3-1 and Malaysia beat Chinese Taipei 1-0.

Malaysia became the only Southeast Asian team to win all 2 matches after the first 2 matches of the 2nd round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia. In the first match, Malaysia defeated Kyrgyzstan 4-3.

Malaysia is also the Southeast Asian team with the highest chance of qualifying for the third qualifying round. The reason is that this team is in Group D, which is too easy. Apart from Oman, the remaining teams in the group, including Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan (China), are all weaker than Malaysia.

Even last night, Oman surprisingly lost 0-1 to Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). This result brought Malaysia to the top of Group D.

Meanwhile, Thailand got their first win after beating Singapore 3-1. Thailand's chances in Group C are still theoretically alive. In this group, South Korea defeated China 3-0 last night in Shenzhen (China).

South Korea currently has 6 points, leading Group C, and will almost certainly have the first ticket of this group to the third qualifying round. Thailand has 3 points, equal to China, while Singapore has almost no chance (Singapore has lost two consecutive matches, with no points yet).

Besides Singapore, another Southeast Asian team has almost no chance after the second round, that is Myanmar in Group B.

In the first round, Myanmar lost 0-5 to Japan. Last night, they lost 1-6 to North Korea. This group also includes Syria, a team much stronger than Myanmar. It is not impossible that the Southeast Asian team will lose all matches after the second qualifying round.

Meanwhile, in Group F, the teams of Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines continue to compete with each other. Last night, Indonesia drew 1-1 with the Philippines in Manila (Philippines), while the Vietnamese team lost narrowly to Iraq 0-1 at My Dinh Stadium.

Iraq has risen to the top of Group F, with 6 points after two matches. Although the Vietnamese team lost to Iraq, they still left a good impression, because the only goal conceded by coach Troussier's team only came in the sixth minute of injury time in the second half.

The Vietnamese team also has a slight advantage over the other two Southeast Asian teams in Group F. Specifically, Indonesia and the Philippines each have only one point, two points behind the Vietnamese team.

The second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia will be suspended until March 2024. At that time, the Vietnamese team will have two consecutive matches against Indonesia on March 21 (in Jakarta, Indonesia) and March 26 (at the home stadium of the Vietnamese team).

These matches will most likely decide the second place in Group F, as well as a place in the third qualifying round.