World Cup qualifiers, AFF Cup and notable tournaments in 2020

Vietnam football will kick off the new year with the 2020 AFC U23 Championship in Thailand. Coach Park Hang-seo’s team is in Group D and will open the tournament on January 10 against the UAE. The next matches against Jordan and North Korea will take place on January 13 and January 16, respectively.

If they repeat their achievement of reaching the finals like the tournament 2 years ago, U23 Vietnam will end the tournament on January 26. This means that the Vietnamese players will celebrate Lunar New Year away from home.

Vietnam U23 team is preparing for the 2020 AFC U23 Championship. Photo: VFF

If Vietnam reaches the semi-finals of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship, the Olympic football team of Vietnam will set foot in the Tokyo Olympic Games for the first time. The event will open from July 24 and end on August 9.

During the “FIFA DAY” days, players will have 5 rounds of competition taking place in March (March 23 - March 31), June (June 1 - June 9), September (September 1 - September 8), October (October 5 - October 13) and November (November 9 - November 17).

The focus will be on the first two training sessions when Vietnam will play the remaining matches of Group G of the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup against Malaysia, Indonesia and the UAE on March 31, June 4 and June 9. Of which, the match against Indonesia will be played at home at My Dinh Stadium.

Vietnam national football team aims to pass the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. Photo: Tuan Huu

Another major tournament in 2020 is the AFF Cup taking place at the end of the year. It is expected that the Vietnamese national team players will have about 1 month to prepare and compete from November 23 to December 31. The goal of coach Park Hang-seo and his team is nothing other than defending the championship.

For domestic national championships, the new season will be "opened" with the National Super Cup match taking place on February 5. V.League 2020 will officially open with the first round of matches on February 22 and 23. The last round of matches will end on October 31 before the players prepare to join the national team.

Teams participating in V.League 2020. Photo: VPF

In 2020, there will be 3 Vietnamese football teams participating in the Asian and Southeast Asian arenas: Hanoi Club, Ho Chi Minh City, and Than Quang Ninh. The National Cup is where 26 teams compete, affirming their position and strength in the battle for the prestigious championship trophy and a ticket to the AFC Cup 2021.

For Vietnamese women's football, in addition to the National Championship, from February 3 to 9, the Vietnamese team will compete in the third qualifying round for the Tokyo Olympics.

Vietnam U19 team lineup. Photo: VFF

In 2020, the Vietnam U19 team will participate in the AFC U19 Championship from October 14 to 31. This is a generation of players that the Vietnam Football Federation has invested in and set a goal of participating in the 2026 World Cup, so coach Philippe Troussier and his team are expected to go far and win tickets to the U20 World Cup.

Graphics: TK

Coach Park Hang-seo reveals many surprises about Vietnamese football

(Baonghean.vn) - In a book recounting Coach Park Hang-seo's sharing about his working process in Vietnam, the Korean coach revealed that the first thing he did when taking over the Vietnamese team was to change the players' eating habits.