Absent from Vietnam National Team

The final round of the second qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup in Asia took place simultaneously with 18 matches on June 11. From these matches, the Organizing Committee has determined the final 5 teams to win tickets to the third qualifying round.

Indonesia is the sole representative of Southeast Asia in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. (Photo: Getty).

Accordingly, the 5 teams with the final tickets are Indonesia, North Korea, Kuwait, China and Kyrgyzstan . There were almost no surprises when the teams that were considered to have a better chance before the last match won tickets. Only Kuwait "squeezed through the narrow door" to move from 4th place in Group A to second place and won the ticket to continue after a 1-0 win over Afghanistan.

The fact that Indonesia won the ticket to the next round also means that Vietnam cannot continue its journey in the World Cup qualifiers this time when the two teams directly compete for a ticket in Group F. The team from the archipelago is also the only representative of Southeast Asian football in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

Previously, 13 other teams had tickets to the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia: Qatar, Japan, South Korea, Oman, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Australia and Palestine.

The 18 teams that entered the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup have officially secured their tickets to the 2027 Asian Cup. The teams will be divided into 3 groups of 6 teams each, playing a round robin to select the first and second place teams in each group to qualify for the World Cup in North America. The draw will take place on June 27.

Source: https://vov.vn/the-thao/danh-sach-18-doi-vao-vong-loai-3-world-cup-2026-vang-mat-dt-viet-nam-post1100950.vov