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Despite winning 6-0 against Brunei and 1-0 against Indonesia, they will probably be eliminated if they lose to Thailand and face a tricky time if they draw.
A win will take them to the top spot in group K and ensure automatic qualification.
The first-placed team in all 11 groups will get a direct ticket to the tournament where they will join Thailand, who qualify automatically as the host, and the five best second-placed teams.
Among second-placed teams, Vietnam is ninth with three points, a goal difference of +1 and two yellow cards since their match against Brunei does not count after Pakistan withdrew from the qualifiers, leaving group F with just three teams. So, to ensure fairness, the results of all matches played against last-placed teams will be scratched.
If Vietnam draw tonight, at least five other second-placed teams need to lose their last match for them to go through.
Vietnam also have the disadvantage of playing in an early time zone and kick off at 8 p.m. in Hanoi tonight, one hour before matches in groups A, B, C, D, and E, whose teams would thus know exactly what result they need.
The current rankings of the second-placed teams:
|
Rank |
Group |
Team |
Goal For |
Goal Against |
Yellow Cards |
Point |
|
1 |
H |
Australia |
6 |
3 |
||
|
2 |
I |
Myanmar |
4 |
3 |
||
|
3 |
C |
Iran |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
4 |
E |
Syria |
2 |
3 |
||
|
5 |
F |
Tajikistan |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
6 |
D |
Saudi Arabia |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
7 |
A |
Oman |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
8 |
J |
Malaysia |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
9 |
K |
Vietnam |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
- |
B |
Bahrain |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
10 |
G |
Hong Kong |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
