National futsal team ready for play-off round ahead of FIFA Futsal World Cup

Upon arrival at the airport in the UAE, the entire team underwent a RT-PCR test to check for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

After all of the results came back negative for the virus, the team went to their accommodation before participating in their first training session led by head coach Pham Minh Giang at a nearby sports hall.

Moving forward, Vietnam are due to take on Iraq in a friendly game on May 17 in the UAE as part of the team’s preparations for the play-off round in order to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

The national team will then face Lebanon on May 23 and May 25 in a two-legged tie played in the UAE.

The UAE are hosting the play-off round which will see the participation of Thailand, Iraq, Lebanon, and Vietnam. The two best teams from this round will subsequently qualify for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup finals which will be held between September 12 and October 3 in Lithuania.

Five years previously the national futsal team defeated Japan in the quarter-final round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Championship, subsequently progressing to the FIFA Futsal World Cup for the first time ever.

At the 2016 version of the global competition, Vietnam were led by head coach Bruno Formoso and recorded a historical triumph over Guatemala, thereby making it through to the quarter-final round for the first time in the country’s history.