Vietnam seeded ahead of regional rivals Thailand, Philippines for 2019 Asian Cup

Vietnam's national football team has been placed in pot 3 for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup draw following the conclusion of the competition's third qualifying round on Wednesday.

The team escaped being placed in the last pot after drawing 1-1 with Jordan in the final qualifying match on Tuesday, thereby climbing to 103rd place in the FIFA World Rankings.

Southeast Asia's remaining qualifiers the Philippines and Thailand were placed in pot 4 due to their lower rankings.

Head coach Park Hang-seo and his players will be able to avoid other pot 3 teams in the group stage, which include 2015's semifinalist Iraq and quarterfinalist Uzbekistan.

The seedings for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup draw.

In the best case scenario, Vietnam will be drawn in the same group as the United Arab Emirates and debutants Kyrgyzstan and Yemen.

The draw will be held on May 4, during which the 24 qualifiers will be placed in six groups of four, each chosen from a different pot.

The AFC Asian Cup is a quadrennial international men's football championship run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). First held in 1956, it is the second oldest continental football championship in the world.

The competition's 2019 edition will be held in the United Arab Emirates from January 5 to February 1, and it will be the first time the final tournament has 24 teams instead of 16.

Vietnam secured one of the 24 tickets to the finals after sharing a goalless draw with Afghanistan last November. With Tuesday's draw against Jordan, the team entered the finals as runners-up in group C.