On the afternoon of June 26, the draw for the 2026 Asian Futsal qualifiers took place in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
The lucky draw put the Vietnam futsal team in Group E, competing for a ticket to the final round with opponents Lebanon, China and Hong Kong (China).
The tournament has 31 teams divided into 8 groups, competing in a round-robin format. The top 8 teams and the 7 best second-placed teams will join host Indonesia in the finals taking place in January 2026.
Thanks to 5th place in Asia and 31st place in the world according to the World Football Rankings (FIFA), the Vietnam futsal team was ranked in the No. 1 seed group for the first time, along with strong teams such as Iran, Japan and Thailand. This is a result that recorded the stable performance of the Vietnam futsal team, especially with 5 consecutive times passing the continental group stage since 2014.
In the upcoming qualifiers, Lebanon and China are considered two direct competitors for coach Diego Giustozzi and his team. Notably, Vietnam beat Lebanon in the 2021 World Cup play-offs and beat China 1-0 in the 2024 Asian futsal finals.
The qualifying round will take place from September 20 to 24. The Vietnam futsal team will gather after the 2025 National Cup ends in August to prepare for this important tournament.
