Vietnam-Indonesia Asian Cup clash anticipation runs high

Vietnam are expected to pass the group stage just as they did at the 2019 Asian Cup, when the team were coached by Park Hang-seo.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a release that the expectation places pressure on the national squad’s new head coach Philippe Troussier.

Indonesia have the same expectations of advancing as they return to the Asian Cup for the first time since 2007 – a tournament they co-hosted with Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

But only one of the two teams, who are in the same group with strong opponents Japan and Iraq, might be able to advance in the tournament.

"With an intense rivalry between supporters, the two sides will aim for nothing but a win when they face off in their second group outing," AFC wrote.

Vietnam will play Indonesia in the second Group D match on Jan. 19, but before that both teams will have to overcome bigger challenges.

Vietnam will face the number one title contender Japan, who have a record of four Asian Cup wins over the years, on Sunday.

Indonesia will meet Iraq, who defeated them 5-1 at the 2026 World Cup second qualifying round. Iraq are roundly in great form under Spanish coach Jesus Casas.

Japan and Iraq are likely to take the top two positions in group D. Therefore, Vietnam and Indonesia must compete for third place in order to be among the four best third-placed teams in the group stage.

Since 1991, Vietnam and Indonesia have encountered each other 27 times, with eight wins for each team, and 11 draws.

However, Vietnam won three and drew three in the last six matches, while Indonesia's most recent victory over Vietnam was in 2016.

Indonesia coach Shin Tae-yong has never defeated Vietnam and he expects to change that with the highly anticipated clash in Qatar.

Indonesia have a talented squad with many naturalized players, while Vietnam are missing several of their key and experienced players due to injury.

Indonesia are also thought to be more prepared moving into the tourney as they went to Turkey for training and played three friendly matches there, losing to 0-4 and 1-2 to Libya and 0-5 to Iran.

Meanwhile, Vietnam only trained at home, went to Qatar on Jan. 5 and had only one single friendly match, behind closed doors, losing 1-2 to Kyrgyzstan.

In addition to the Vietnam-Indonesia battle, the remaining most-anticipated four matches, as reported by AFC, are the opener of host Qatar against Lebanon in group A, Iran vs UAE in group C, Australia vs Uzbekistan in group B and Saudi Arabia vs Thailand in group F, where excitement will run high with the presence of the 2020 Euro winning coach Roberto Mancini.

The tournament will start on Friday and last until Feb. 10.