The Vietnam national team has officially qualified for the third round of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.

On the evening of November 17th, in the Group F match of the "double" qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup, the Iraqi national team defeated Taiwan (China) 2-0, indirectly securing Vietnam's place in the final qualifying round of the 2019 Asian Cup.

The Vietnam national team has officially qualified for the final round of the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

Before the penultimate matchday, the Taiwan national team had yet to earn any points in Group F after the first four rounds, while the team just above them, Vietnam, had 4 points (having a bye in this round). Therefore, to compete for third place, Taiwan needed to get points in their match against Iraq. However, due to the vast difference in skill level, Coach Kuei-Jen Chen's team was unable to pull off an upset and had to accept a 0-2 defeat, officially finishing last in Group F even though they still had one game in hand (against Vietnam in the next round).

Thus, with their 0-2 defeat against Iraq, Taiwan has "ceded" their spot to Vietnam in the final qualifying round of the 2019 Asian Cup, even though coach Toshiya Miura's team did not play in this round and still has two matches left to play.

This result was a logical outcome, as predicted, because in Group F, Vietnam's competitor for third place, Indonesia, was banned from competing by FIFA for a long period. However, the goal of trying to surprise two strong opponents, Thailand and Iraq, to ​​advance to the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region has been shattered after the crushing 0-3 defeat against Kiatisak's team on October 13th. The hope of becoming one of the four best second-placed teams is also very slim, as the necessary condition is that Coach Miura's team must win all three points away against strong opponent Iraq.

According to regulations, the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region (which also serves as the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers) features 40 teams divided into 8 groups of 5 teams each. Due to Indonesia's ban, Group F, which includes Vietnam, only has 4 teams.

The teams compete in a double round-robin format (home and away matches) to select the top 8 teams and the 4 best-performing second-placed teams to participate in the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, which also officially secure a spot in the 2019 Asian Cup finals. Of the remaining 28 teams, only the 4 bottom-placed teams among the 8 with the worst records are eliminated, leaving 24 teams to advance to the third round of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers.

These 24 teams are then divided into 6 groups (4 teams per group) playing a round-robin format with home and away matches. The top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Finals.

In the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region (Vietnam is practically eliminated), 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six, playing a round-robin format with two legs (home and away). The top two teams from each group will represent Asia at the World Cup finals in Russia. The two third-placed teams from each group will play a two-legged play-off. The overall winner will play a play-off match against the fourth-placed team from the North Central America and Caribbean region for a last-chance spot in the 2018 World Cup finals.

The standings in Group F before the final two matches.

According to Thethaovietnam