What are the chances for Vietnam to continue in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers?

According to FIFA regulations, the 8 group winners and the 4 best second-placed teams in the second qualifying round (12 teams in total) will qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup Finals, and also qualify for the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.

Therefore, to qualify for the third qualifying round, Vietnam must win first place in the group or be among the four best second-placed teams. The chance is a little bigger if Qatar - the host of the 2022 World Cup - passes the qualifying round and wins a ticket to the 2023 Asian Cup. Then, up to five best second-placed teams will be selected.

4 second place tickets have been found?

After 2 matches, in group A, Syria and China both have 6 points and are superior to the other 3 teams. These two teams will compete for the first and second place in the group and it is very likely that the second team in group A will also have a ticket to continue because they will absolutely win against the other 3 teams.

In group E, Qatar and Oman are also showing their class, the 2 tickets to the next round are hard to escape from these 2 teams. In group F, Japanese and Tajikistan players have earned 6 absolute points after 2 matches, the players of the land of the rising sun with a very strong attack will take the top spot and Tajikistan will get the extra ticket to go on.

UAE team is Vietnam's direct opponent in Group G. Photo: AFC

If they maintain their form, Qatar will most likely be the representative team from Group E to advance to the next round. At that time, there will be a scenario where a total of 5 second-placed teams with the best results will advance, making Vietnam's chances of advancing brighter.

The results of the second-placed teams in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia currently have 4 teams including Syria, Oman, Tajikistan, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with 6 points; 4 other teams including Thailand, Singapore, Iraq, and Kuwait with 4 points. Of which, Kuwait and Singapore have played 3 matches, while the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Syria, Iraq, and Tajikistan have not yet met the strong teams in their group.

As we analyzed above, the 3 second-placed teams will have difficulty escaping from groups A, E, F, and H. Thus, the remaining 4 groups will compete for the remaining second-placed team and the opponents of the Vietnam team in group B are Kuwait (4 points, +4), Jordan (4 points, +1), group C is Iran (4 points, +2), Bahrain (4 points, +1), 4 groups D except Yemen.

The remaining ticket

According to experts, the situation in group D including Saudi Arabia (4 points, +1), Singapore (4 points, 0), Uzbekistan (3 points, +3), Palestine (3 points, +1) is as difficult as in group G, where the Vietnamese team is competing.

In Group G, Park Hang-seo and his team are ranked 3rd with 4 points, after 1 win, 1 draw, 1 goal scored and no goals conceded. If they want to continue, Vietnam's task is not only to win but also to beat Indonesia - the team considered the weakest in the group - in the next match.

Coach Park and his team have arrived in Indonesia. Photo: VPF

Obviously, in the 4 groups B, C, D, G, the chance of the 2 second-placed teams in groups D and G (including Vietnam) to continue is much lower than that of groups B and C (only about 20%).

It is not simple when experts say that if we want to continue, we need to be determined to be the best in Group G rather than falling to second place and waiting for luck. After the match with Malaysia, many people think that if we can maintain this form, even the UAE will not have to worry too much.