Laos vs. Vietnam: A significant difference in skill level!

Despite playing at home, Laos' chances of earning points are very slim. The main reason is that the difference in skill level between the two teams is still too great.FIFA rankings(November 2024), the Vietnamese team is ranked 116th, while the Laotian team is ranked 186th.

For the ASEAN Cup 2024, the Laos national team did not bring prominent figures like the striker duo Billy Ketkeophomphone and Soukaphone Vongchiengkham. Instead, they used mostly domestic players, many of whom are relatively unknown. Notably, more than half of the squad (15 out of 26 players) are under 23 years old, indicating that the team is undergoing a "youth rejuvenation" process.

However, under the guidance of new head coach Ha Hyeok-jun, Captain Bounphachan Bounkong and his teammates have made significant progress recently. The 1-1 draw with the Thai national team on November 17th is the clearest evidence of this.

Historically, the Laotian national team has never beaten the Vietnamese national team in an official tournament. After 13 encounters, the Laotian team has lost 12 matches and only managed one draw, in the group stage of the 1996 AFF Cup (1-1). These statistics show that the Laotian team has yet to reach the level of the Vietnamese team.

At the 2022 AFF Cup, the two teams were also in the same group. Back then, the Vietnamese team achieved a resounding 6-0 victory over the Laotian team in Vientiane. It is highly likely that in the upcoming match, coach Kim Sang-sik's team will continue their easy winning streak.

In Group B of the ASEAN Cup 2024, besides the Vietnam and Laos national teams, there are also the Indonesia, Philippines, and Myanmar national teams. The teams will play a single round-robin tournament to select the two best-performing teams for the semi-finals. This makes the Laos national team's chances of advancing very difficult.