On the afternoon of December 9, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held a draw for the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. The draw put the Vietnamese team in Group F with Malaysia, Nepal and Laos.
This is considered an easy group for the Vietnamese team as the remaining opponents are all rated lower. Among the remaining 3 teams, Malaysia is considered the biggest rival competing for a ticket to the next round with coach Kim Sang-sik and his team.
In the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, 24 teams will be divided into 6 groups of 4 teams each, playing in a round-robin format at home and away from March 25 to March 31, 2025. The top team in each group (6 teams) will qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup finals hosted by Saudi Arabia.
Up to now, the 2027 Asian Cup finals have determined 18 participating teams. These are the teams that have entered the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, including: Saudi Arabia, Australia, Iraq, Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar, UAE, Japan, South Korea, Oman, Palestine, Bahrain, Jordan, China, Indonesia, DPRK, Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan.
In the last two Asian Cups (2019 and 2023), the Vietnamese team won tickets to participate. The most notable achievement was reaching the quarter-finals at the 2019 Asian Cup.
