A challenging opening match.

In the second round of the women's football qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Vietnamese women's team is in the same group as Uzbekistan, India, and Japan. Of these, Japan is a significantly stronger team and is unlikely to lose the top spot in the group.

According to the format of the second qualifying round, only the top 3 teams in each group and the best-performing second-placed team advance to the final qualifying round. Vietnam's chances probably only lie in securing a second-place spot. Coach Mai Duc Chung's team will have to compete with Uzbekistan, while India is considered the weaker opponent.

The match between the Vietnamese women's team and Uzbekistan tonight, October 26th, will most likely determine the second-place finisher in the group.

The Uzbekistan team poses a significant obstacle for the Vietnamese team.

The home team is ranked 50th in the FIFA rankings, 16 places lower than the Vietnamese national team. However, the gap in skill level between the two teams is not significant.

At the 19th Asian Games, the Uzbekistan team reached the semi-finals and finished fourth overall. Prior to that, they defeated Taiwan (China) – a team with a similar level of skill to the Vietnamese team.

Meanwhile, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team have shown signs of decline after the SEA Games 32 and the 2023 World Cup. The Vietnamese national team has begun a rejuvenation process, preparing for a generational transition before coach Mai Duc Chung's contract expires and he officially leaves.

Vietnam vs Uzbekistan form

The only time the Vietnamese and Uzbekistani national teams met was in a qualifying match for the 2020 Olympics in 2019. On that occasion, Huynh Nhu and her teammates won with a score of 2-1.

The Vietnamese women's national team's performance in their most recent tournament was not highly rated. At the 19th Asian Games, coach Mai Duc Chung's team won 2-0 against Nepal, 6-1 against Bangladesh, and lost 0-7 against Japan. Vietnam finished second in their group but were eliminated due to inferior tie-breaking criteria compared to other teams in their respective groups.

Playing continuously throughout 2023 significantly impacted the players' physical condition and motivation. This is a challenge that coach Mai Duc Chung must address in the second round of the 2024 Olympic qualifiers.

The Uzbekistan national team played 14 matches in 2023. At the 19th Asian Games, they only won two matches: defeating Mongolia and overcoming Taiwan (China) after extra time.

Uzbekistan suffered heavy defeats against top-tier opponents like South Korea and China. This shows that the home team's level is still not close to that of the higher-level teams. Compared to the Vietnamese national team, Uzbekistan is on par.

Vietnam vs Uzbekistan

The Vietnamese women's national team retains the core squad that participated in ASIAD 19. The most notable change is the return of Huỳnh Như. This striker recently scored for Lank FC and promises to bring more sharpness to the Vietnamese team's attack, especially considering the young forwards have not yet achieved consistency.

On the other side, the Uzbekistan team also did not make many changes to their squad compared to ASIAD 19.