Before the draw for the 2027 Asian Cup finals, Indonesian media set out scenarios for the group stage for the home team. In which, the Indonesian team is completely capable of being in the same group as the Vietnamese team.
However, this is an undesirable scenario for coach John Herdman and his team, because the two teams have understood each other too well in recent years.
According to the assessment of the archipelago press, the Vietnamese team is undergoing significant changes in both force and form under coach Kim Sang-sik. After winning the ASEAN Cup 2024, the "Golden Star Warriors" have returned to the top 100 FIFA.
Indonesian media emphasized that the appearance of many naturalized and overseas Vietnamese players such as Nguyen Xuan Son, Do Hoang Hen, Nguyen Filip or Cao Pendant Quang Vinh helped the Vietnamese team increase their strength significantly. Quang Hai, Van Hau or Hoang Duc, Tien Anh... still play an important role in the squad.
In the opposite direction, the Indonesian team is going through a period of instability. After failing in the race to win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, the archipelago team changed the coaching staff when coach John Herdman took over the team. They have only won one match since October 2025 and are currently only ranked 122nd FIFA.
The 2027 Asian Cup has the participation of 24 teams, divided into 6 groups. Southeast Asia has 4 representatives including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
In particular, Vietnam team is in seed group number 3 with Bahrain, China, Palestine, Tajikistan and Thailand; Indonesia is in group 4 with Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Kuwait, Singapore and the winner of the play-off pair between Lebanon and Yemen.
The draw ceremony for the 2027 Asian Cup finals will take place in the early morning of May 10 in Saudi Arabia (Vietnam time).
