Asian Cup 2019 Finals Draw: Vietnam vs Thailand?

According to the seeding classification of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the 12 teams that entered the final qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup in Asia are in the first two seeding groups. Except for the host team UAE, which was given a special place in group 1, the remaining 11 teams are divided into two seeding groups 1 and 2 according to their rankings on the FIFA rankings in April 2018.

Thus, 6 teams UAE, Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are in group 1. Group 2 includes China, Syria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Qatar and Thailand.

Will Vietnam team have luck in the draw like in AFF Cup 2018?

The third and fourth seed groups were also selected based on their FIFA rankings. With a world ranking of 103, Vietnam are in the third seed group with Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman and India. The fourth seed group includes the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen and Turkmenistan.

With this seeding result, Vietnam team is likely to be in the same group with strong opponents in seeding groups 1 and 2 like Thailand. If they are in the same group with Thailand, the 2019 Asian Cup Finals will certainly be much more interesting to watch when there is an internal battle between two Southeast Asian representatives.

In case coach Park Hang Seo brings luck from the draw results, the Vietnamese team could also fall into a group with easy opponents such as: Saudi Arabia, Syria, Philippines, Jordan or Yemen.

The scenario of Vietnam team being in the same group with Thailand at the 2019 Asian Cup finals is entirely possible. Photo: Fox Sports

According to the rules, the top 2 teams in each group plus the 4 best third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 16. The ranking in the group will be based on points, head-to-head record, goal difference and number of goals scored.

The 2019 Asian Cup Finals will take place from January 5 to February 1, 2019 at 8 stadiums in 4 major cities of the UAE: Abu Dhabi (including 3 stadiums: Zayed Sports City, Mohammed Bin Zayed, Al Nahyan), Dubai (Al-Maktoum Stadium), Al Ain (Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium) and Sharjah (Sharjah Stadium).

4 Southeast Asian teams in the same group at the 2019 Asian Cup Finals?

Yesterday (April 12), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially announced the seeding groups for the 2019 Asian Cup. The four Southeast Asian representatives, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, are in four different groups. This means they could be in the same group at the tournament in the UAE.