Vietnam to play three top Asian teams in October

The team will train in China and play a friendly with the host on Oct. 10. They will then play Uzbekistan on the 13th. Four days later, Vietnam will go to South Korea to play the host there.

Before their East Asia trip, Vietnam will play Palestine in a friendly on Sept. 11 at Thien Truong Stadium, Nam Dinh Province.

All four opponents have an equal or superior power to Vietnam (95th on world ranking). The level of difficulty increases as Palestine are 96th on world ranking, China are 80th, Uzbekistan 74th and South Korea 28th.

Vietnam (in white) play China in the World Cup qualifiers on Oct. 7, 2021. Photo by Vietnam Football Federation

Vietnam have only played Palestine once, losing 1-3 in a friendly in 2014.

After eight encounters with China, Vietnam has lost seven and won one. The most recent two matches took place in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup when Vietnam lost 2-3 in the first leg and won 3-1 in the second.

As for Uzbekistan, they beat Vietnam twice, 3-1 and 3-0, in 2013 at the 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Vietnam have lost five and won one against South Korea after six encounters. The surprising 1-0 victory took place in 2003 at the 2004 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Under coach Philippe Troussier, Vietnam played two friendlies in June 2023, winning 1-0 against both Hong Kong and Syria.

The upcoming four matches against strong opponents will be good prepping for the team as they will play the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup against the Philippines and Iraq in November.

After that, Vietnam will compete in the 2024 Asian Cup in January next year, where they are in the same group as Indonesia, Iraq, and Japan.