Vietnam in the same group with Iran and Iraq at Asian Cup 2019

The draw ceremony for the 2019 Asian Cup was held in the UAE, the host country of this tournament, on the evening of May 4.

Accordingly, Vietnam is in group D with Iran, Iraq and Yemen.. This is considered a tough group, but also has many potential surprises. In recent years, Vietnamese football has often achieved positive results when facing teams from the Middle East. Most recently, the U23 Asian Cup, where the boys in red defeated both Iraq and Qatar to reach the final (losing to Uzbekistan).

Many players of U23 Vietnam will be present in the squad for the Asian Cup next year. They will still be led by coach Park Hang-seo. The Korean strategist and head of delegation Duong Vu Lam will represent Vietnam at the draw.

Thailand is in Group A with the UAE, India and Bahrain. Meanwhile, the last representative from Southeast Asia, the Philippines, is in Group C, with South Korea, China andKyrgyzstan.

Vietnam qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup thanks to an unbeaten record in the final qualifying round, in a group with Jordan, Afghanistan and Cambodia.

Based on the FIFA scoreboard of April 2018, the Organizing Committee has divided the seed groups for 24 teams. Vietnam is in the third seed group with Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine and India. Thailand and the Philippines are in the second and fourth seed groups.

The 24 teams are divided into six groups, with each group playing a round-robin to determine their ranking. The group winners and runners-up, as well as the four best third-placed teams, will advance to the knockout round of 16.

The tournament will take place from January 5 to February 1, 2019 at eight stadiums in four major cities of the UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and Sharjah.