Vietnam Team: Uncertain about World Cup qualifying list

Coach Philippe Troussier's Headache

After round 3 of V-League 2023/24, the Vietnam team is expected to gather on November 5 to prepare for two matches against the Philippines (November 16) and Iraq (November 21), within the framework of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.

The personnel issue in the Vietnamese team is of particular interest to fans because in the upcoming training session, coach Philippe Troussier will select a complete list, with no more experimental goals.

This is the time when the framework of the Vietnamese team is most clearly defined, and every decision of coach Troussier on who to use in which position must be carefully calculated, with no room for error.

Over the past 8 months, the French strategist has been busy with his squad, with the number of players calling up at times to nearly 100 from both the Vietnam national team and the U23 team. After 6 friendly matches against opponents Hong Kong (China), Syria, Palestine, China, Uzbekistan and South Korea, coach Philippe Troussier has basically had the most suitable choices.

But at the moment, Mr. Troussier is having a headache before making a decision about the list of Vietnam national team. Most of the young U23 players that he tested and gave maximum opportunities to show in the above matches are now in reserve status in V-League.

According to commentator Quang Huy, with a list of 30 players, coach Philippe Troussier still calls up some young players, but the chance of them staying or being in the starting lineup is not much.

The Vietnamese team still needs experienced players with practical skills. Compared to friendly matches, any mistake in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup will be costly, and Mr. Troussier is the one who bears the highest responsibility for the results and performance.

"Young players always create youthfulness and competition, but if they are used like in recent friendly matches, coach Philippe Troussier will have to accept the risk," commentator Quang Huy emphasized.

Anxious with Vietnam team

Vietnam has never been so well prepared for the World Cup qualifiers as this time. The "blue troops" of coach Philippe Troussier and his team were selected in increasing levels, thereby helping the team to gradually improve in terms of personnel and playing style.

Especially in the 3 friendly matches in October against China, Uzbekistan and South Korea, for the first time the Vietnamese team had the chance to compete with the top 15 teams in Asia within just 1 week.

The results have been great, even in "shattering" defeats like the one against Korea. Coach Troussier confirmed that he sees positive points in the team. That is, the number of accurate passes has increased, the decisions to deploy the ball are also faster, the team's movement without the ball has improved...

The Vietnamese team has learned a lot and made progress but has not really left any hope. In particular, the team's attacking and transition plans have not created any breakthroughs, even stagnating.

Of course, facing strong opponents makes Vietnamese players confused, unable to do anything in matches where they only have to struggle to defend and control the ball 30-35% like the matches against Uzbekistan or Korea.

"It's true that we don't have much hope if we watch the Vietnam team play in the last three matches. However, those are test matches by coach Philippe Troussier, but for real, we'll have to wait and see...", commentator Quang Huy commented.

The Vietnamese team's testing period is over, and this time it's a real battle. The upcoming fierce battle forces coach Troussier to choose the most suitable, most combative and most dedicated players, but whether they can meet expectations or not remains to be seen./.