Vietnam has never lost on the Philippines field.

The Vietnamese team has a much better head-to-head record than the Philippines, but often does not start well in the second round of World Cup qualifiers.

Vietnam have met the Philippines twice on their turf, winning one and drawing the other. The first time the two teams met was at the Rizal Memorial Stadium at the 1991 SEA Games in Manila, with the score 2-2. It was also Vietnam’s first match after rejoining international football, and striker Nguyen Van Dung scored twice.

Vietnam’s only victory over the hosts Philippines came in 2018 under coach Park Hang-seo, at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod. Park’s team won 2-1 in the first leg of the AFF Cup semi-final, with goals from strikers Nguyen Anh Duc and Phan Van Duc. The team won 4-2 in the semi-final, then beat Malaysia 3-2 in the final to win the title.

Striker Phan Van Duc celebrates scoring the winning goal for Vietnam in a 2-1 victory over the Philippines at Panaad Stadium, Bacolod City, Philippines, in the first leg of the AFF Cup semi-final on December 2, 2018. Photo: Duc Dong

In the 13 previous encounters, Vietnam won 10 matches against the Philippines, drew once and lost only twice. One of the team's two defeats came at My Dinh Stadium in the 2010 AFF Cup, when the home team lost 0-2. The match is unforgettable for the Filipinos, as they consider it the "miracle in Hanoi ".

Head-to-head statistics are in favor of Vietnam, but Philippe Troussier and his team need to warm up faster when they start the second qualifying round of the World Cup. Because in the last three times they participated in the second qualifying round, the team did not win on the opening day and did not score any goals in those matches.

In the second qualifying round of the 2014 World Cup, Vietnam lost 0-3 to Qatar in the first match in Doha. Four years later, the team continued to lose 0-1 to Thailand in the first match in Bangkok. In the qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, Coach Park and his team drew 0-0 with Thailand in Pathum Thani. This time, the team's first match in the second qualifying round continued to take place away at the Rizal Memorial.

Vietnam won just one match in the opening round of the World Cup qualifiers, in 2006, when they defeated Maldives 4-0 at My Dinh Stadium. However, that was the team’s only victory in that qualifier. When they played Maldives again in Male, Edson Tavares’ team lost 0-3.

The format of the Asian World Cup qualifiers often changes with each edition. For the 2026 World Cup, the AFC will hold five qualifying rounds, but teams can qualify from the third round. Asia has up to 8.5 places, so many teams have prepared carefully for their first appearance at the finals, including Vietnam.

In the previous eight World Cup qualifiers, the team lost in the first round four times and failed to make it to the second round three times. The team’s best performance also came under Park, when they reached the third round of the 2022 qualifiers. The team won one, drew one and lost eight matches in that decisive qualifying round.

Xuan Binh

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