Vietnam to host two friendly matches on FIFA Days in September and October
VOV.VN - The Vietnamese national men’s football team are expected to play friendlies against Palestine and Australia on FIFA Days this September and October, according to details given by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).
The Australian team are currently in 29th position in the world’s rankings, with Palestine down in 93rd in the list.
The Vietnamese team is expected to move up one spot in the upcoming FIFA rankings that are set to be released on July 20. This rise can be attributed to their victories over Hong Kong (China) and Syria in recent friendlies played during the latest round of FIFA Days.
The wins are to see the Vietnamese team add a further 8.54 points to reach a total of 1238.23 points, meaning they will likely to climb from 96th to 95th in the world’s rankings.
Moving forward, the Vietnamese national team’s friendly against Australia will only be officially confirmed after a draw for the qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup which will take place on July 27.
If Vietnam and Australia are drawn the same group, then the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) will have to seek another opponent for the national team led by head coach Philippe Troussier.
By being ranked among the world’s top 100 and Asia’s top 20 teams, the Vietnamese national team won’t need to take part in a play-off round to progress through to the group stage of qualifiers for both the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
All 36 teams in the region are set to be divided into nine groups, with the best two teams making it through to the third qualification round of the Asian region for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and making the finals of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
In line with this, the country is scheduled to compete in World Cup qualifiers from mid-November to June, 2024.