Việt Nam have been drawn with alongside regional rivals Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in the next round of World Cup qualifying.—  Photo vietnamnet.vn

Peter Cowan

The fifth team in Group G, and the only outside of Southeast Asia, are the United Arab Emirates.

The draw for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s second round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was held at the AFC’s headquarters in Malaysia earlier today.

The matches will also serve as the second qualifying round for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, set to be held in China.

Việt Nam were seeded in the second-highest pot, helping them avoid tough teams such as Iraq, Jordan and Uzbekistan.

The national team will play five qualifiers this year and three in 2020, with the first round of fixtures scheduled for early September.

Australian football legend Tim Cahill drew the teams to some delight at the headquarters as the Southeast Asian rivals were placed in the same group.

Việt Nam have a good recent record against Thailand and Malaysia, having beaten the former in the King’s Cup in Thailand in June and Malaysia in the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup last December.

Park Hang-Seo’s charges will begin their campaign with an away game to Thailand on September 5.

The eight group winners and four best placed runners up will advance to the next round. — VNS