Vietnam put in Pot 1 head of 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers

The Vietnamese national men’s football team have been placed in Pot 1, the top seed group, for the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers which will be played from March 25, 2025, to March 31, 2026.

Pot 1 consists of the likes of Syria, Thailand, Lebanon, Tajikistan, India, and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Pot 2 features Malaysia, Turkmenistan, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Hong Kong (China), and Yemen.

Singapore, the Maldives, Taiwan (China), Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan make up Pot 3. The final group comprises Brunei, Bangladesh, Laos, Timor-Leste, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The 24 teams participating in the 2027 Asian Cup’s third round of qualifiers are to be divided into a total of six groups of four teams, with the draw for the tournament scheduled to take place on December 9 in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

The teams will play home-and-away round-robin matches, with only the winners of each group qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup where they will be joined by the 18 teams which qualified directly from the second round.

The 2027 Asian Cup is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia from January 15, 2027, to February 8, 2027. A total of 10 stadiums from four cities, including Dammam, Khobar, Jeddah, and Riyadh will serve as the venues for the tournament.

The Vietnamese team previously played in the Asian Cup’s final round in 2019 and 2023.

Most notably, Vietnam sealed a place in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Cup, defeating Jordan 4-2 on penalties after their Round of 16 tie ended 1-1 at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) five years ago.