The Vietnamese national team ranks 95 in the world. — Photo laodong.vn

Football

HÀ NỘI — The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has classified the seed groups to prepare for the draw of the first and second qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Asia.

Accordingly, at 95th place in the FIFA rankings and 15th in Asia, the Vietnamese national team has entered the second qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup, this is also the Asian Cup 2027 qualifier.

Two victories with the same score of 1-0 over China’s Hong Kong and Syria in the last FIFA Days helped Việt Nam maintain the 95th position in the world.

According to the AFC, Việt Nam is in the second seed group along with the teams of Uzbekistan, China, Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, and India.

Being placed in the second seed group helps Việt Nam avoid many strong opponents, thereby upping its chance to reach the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.

The first seed group includes Japan, Iran, Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, UAE, and Oman.

The third seed group includes three other teams in Southeast Asia, namely Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia. Others in the group are Lebanon, Tajikistan, North Korea, Kuwait, Turkmenistan. and Hong Kong.

There are seven teams in Southeast Asia that must participate in the first qualifying round - Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste, and Brunei.

As planned, the draw for the first and second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup will take place on July 27. The series of matches in the first qualifying round will take place on October 12 - 17.

In the 2026 World Cup, Asia will have 8 spots. The top two teams in each group in the second qualifying round will win tickets to the next round (with a total of 18 teams).

In the third qualifying round, these teams were divided into three groups. The top two teams in each group will win tickets directly to the 2026 World Cup.

The third- and fourth-place teams in the groups will participate in the fourth qualifying round. The top team in this round will win direct tickets.

The two teams ranked second will do play-offs to select the team that will enter. — VNS