FIFA changes boost Vietnamese chances of World Cup berth
VOV.VN - The Vietnamese national men’s football team will have extra opportunities to progress to the finals of the 2026 World Cup after the world’s governing football body FIFA adopted a new qualification format for the global tournament.
According to details given by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), FIFA decided to allocate a total of 8.5 places, including eight direct spots and a single Intercontinental Playoff slot, for Asian representatives to the 2026 World Cup.
In lines to revamp the global tournament, FIFA will increase the number of participating teams from the current number of 32 to 48 teams. Due to these changes, Asia will also have four additional representatives in the 2026 edition compared to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
This means that the Vietnamese national team will have a greater chance of participating in the largest football competition for the first time in history.
Qualification for the 2026 World Cup will comprise four rounds, or one more round compared to the 2022 iteration, in which Vietnam reached the third qualifying round for the first time ever. According to the schedule, qualification will start in October 2023, and will last until late 2025.
The 22 teams ranked 26th to 47th in Asia will take part in the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1.
Vietnam, who are ranked 17th in Asia, will compete in the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 which will see the participation of 36 teams ranked from first to 25th, as well as the 11 winners from the first round.
Subsequently, the 18 teams who also qualify automatically for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup will be divided into three groups of six teams each. They will compete in a round robin format with home and away games, and the top two teams from each group – six in total – will qualify directly to the 2026 World Cup.
A further six teams, including the third and fourth placed teams from all groups of the AFC Asian Qualifiers, will be drawn into two groups and will compete in a single round-robin format.
The two first-placed teams from the Asian Playoff groups will then advance to the 2026 World Cup. In addition, the second-placed teams from both groups will compete in a playoff match to determine the side that will represent the AFC in the Intercontinental Playoff.