Stepping towards the World Cup goal

VHO - The Vietnamese women's football team has completed its mission in the qualifying round of the 2026 Asian Women's Football Championship, which just took place in Viet Tri (Phu Tho). The "Diamond Girls" have created a very good start to take a big step forward in the journey to conquer a ticket to the second World Cup of Vietnamese women's football.

Having qualified for the 2026 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese women's national team is confident in achieving its goals in the near future.

Double harvest

In Group E of the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese women's national team (ranked 37th in the world ) will compete against Guam (ranked 97th in the world), UAE (ranked 117th in the world), and Maldives (ranked 163rd in the world) in a round-robin format. Only the top team in the group will qualify for the finals in Australia next year.

With home advantage, thorough preparation, and determination, the Vietnamese women's national team had a successful journey, successively defeating Guam 4-0, UAE 6-0, and Maldives 7-0 to secure the only qualifying spot in the group. Despite their impressive qualification for the 2026 Asian Cup, coach Mai Duc Chung frankly acknowledged areas for improvement, particularly their ability to capitalize on opportunities.

In this training camp, some key players joined late due to their commitments in the AFC Women's Champions League, and the U20 players were unable to join due to preparations for the Asian qualifiers. The preparation time was too short, and their finishing abilities were not yet optimized.

Not only did the recent matches achieve their performance goals, but they also gave coach Mai Duc Chung the opportunity to test his personnel and develop a new playing style. Against weaker opponents, coach Mai Duc Chung frequently mixed young players with veteran players in the starting lineup, with a different team composition in each match.

When the team establishes a safe lead, there are more young players on the field, giving the coaching staff the opportunity to experiment with them in new positions to accurately assess each player's abilities and mentality. This is extremely necessary in the context of the Vietnamese women's national team's rejuvenation, laying the foundation for the remaining two tournaments of the year: the Southeast Asian Championship and the SEA Games 33, especially the goal of qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup next year.

Coach Mai Duc Chung frankly pointed out the challenges in the process of rejuvenating the team: "If young male players haven't yet met the standards of the national team, then things are even more difficult for women's football. The current veterans have played together for a very long time to achieve this understanding. It's a long process, full of perseverance and hard work. We need to be truly patient."

Opportunities and challenges

Qualifying for the 2026 Asian Cup is a long-term step in preparing the "Diamond Girls" for their goal of securing a ticket to the 2027 Women's World Cup. This is the most important objective for Vietnamese women's football in the coming year.

"Football always holds surprises, but we all harbor hopes of qualifying for the World Cup. With more systematic investment, I believe the Vietnamese women's national team can create surprises and get closer to the 2027 World Cup. We yearn for that," coach Mai Duc Chung expressed.

According to the regulations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the six best-performing teams at the 2026 Asian Cup will qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. The top Asian tournament, taking place next year in Australia, will feature 12 teams. The four semi-finalists will automatically qualify, while the four quarter-final losers will be drawn into two pairs, with the two winners securing the remaining spots.

The Vietnamese women's team will face many challenges, as in addition to the five strongest teams in Asia – Australia, South Korea, Japan, China, and North Korea – they will also face strong competition from the Philippines, India, and Chinese Taipei.

According to experts, given the skill level and strength of Australia, South Korea, Japan, China, and North Korea, it will be very difficult for the Vietnamese women's team to reach the semi-finals. Therefore, the team's realistic goal is to keep their hopes alive in the play-off round, and before thinking about that, the Vietnamese girls need to get through the group stage.

At the 2022 Asian Cup in India, after being eliminated in the quarterfinals, the Vietnamese women's team competed against Thailand and Chinese Taipei in a round-robin playoff round (Australia, despite losing in the quarterfinals, did not compete as they were the host of the 2023 Women's World Cup).

In this round, Coach Mai Duc Chung's team defeated Thailand 2-0 and Chinese Taipei 2-1 to secure a perfect 6 points, thus qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in history. Vietnamese football fans have high hopes that Coach Mai Duc Chung's team will repeat history at the tournament in Australia next year.

This is no easy goal, but with thorough preparation, determination, and focus in every match, along with a bit of luck, the "Diamond Girls" can absolutely fulfill their dream of participating in the biggest football event on the planet for the second time.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/tien-buoc-muc-tieu-world-cup-150541.html