Vietnam team shockingly lost to Malaysia, how many % of Asian Cup 2027 tickets are left?

Vietnam suffered a heavy 0-4 defeat against Malaysia, causing the "Golden Star Warriors" to temporarily rank second in Group F with 3 points (winning 5-0 over Laos). Meanwhile, Malaysia rose to the top with 6 absolute points (winning 2-0 over Nepal and 4-0 over Vietnam).

According to the regulations of the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, only the group winners will qualify directly for the finals. The priority ranking criteria are points, head-to-head record, goal difference, and goals scored.

W-tuyen viet nam malaysia 19.jpg — Vietnam national football team faces difficulties after heavy loss to Malaysia - Photo: Ho Hai Hoang

Southeast Asian football causes big surprise in Asian Cup qualifiers

With the current situation, Vietnam can only win the group if they beat Malaysia. There are two main scenarios:

1. Vietnam team has a higher total score than Malaysia: "Golden Star Warriors" need to win all remaining matches and hope Malaysia stumbles against Nepal or Laos.

2. Vietnam team has the same points as Malaysia : If Vietnam wins all remaining matches, including the return match with Malaysia, the team needs to win by 5 goals or more to ensure the advantage in direct confrontation. In case of winning by 4 goals (similar to Malaysia's first leg match), the final goal difference of the whole group will be the deciding criterion.

However, looking at Malaysia's current strength with a squad of quality naturalized players, it is very unlikely that they will lose to Nepal or Laos. Even when facing Vietnam at My Dinh Stadium in March next year, Malaysia will not easily lose with a difference of 4-5 goals.

Recent head-to-head history shows that Malaysia's biggest defeat against Vietnam was only by a 3-goal margin (AFF Cup 2020 and 2022). This shows a huge challenge for coach Kim Sang Sik and his team in their journey to win a ticket to Saudi Arabia 2027.