Vietnam and Malaysia are in Group F of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. The top team in this group will qualify for the final round of the Asian Football Championship in 2 years.

In the first match of Group F, Round 3, Malaysia beat Nepal 2-0, while Vietnam beat Laos 5-0.

Expert Zulakbal Abdul Karim said: "Coach Peter Cklamovski (Macedonian) had too little time to prepare for the recent match against Nepal. That victory can help the whole Malaysian team gain confidence."

"However, from now on, the Malaysian team members need to quickly prepare for the next match against the Vietnamese team. I predict that Malaysia and Vietnam will be the two main opponents to compete for the top spot in Group F.

We all know that the Vietnamese team is playing very well, they are a very strong team. The match with the Vietnamese team will therefore be a fierce clash with the Malaysian team," added Malaysian football expert Zulakbal Abdul Karim.

Recently, Malaysia has used many naturalized players in its squad. In the near future, the team nicknamed "Harimau Malaya" is expected to have more naturalized players. But according to Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim, that is not enough for the Malaysian team to defeat the Vietnamese team.

The Malaysian football expert shared: "To defeat the Vietnamese team, the members of the Malaysian coaching staff need to prepare very early. We cannot prepare for the match with the Vietnamese team like we prepared for the match with Nepal."

"Each person must make their maximum effort. It has been a long time since the Malaysian team has defeated the Vietnamese team, so the players lack confidence. This is a problem that needs to be solved. We need more psychologists to solve the mental problems of the players and give them more confidence," Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim commented further.

The reason why expert Zulakbal Abdul Karim mentioned the above issue is because according to statistics, from 2016 until now, in the 8 official matches that the Vietnam and Malaysia teams met, the advantage was clearly on the side of the Vietnam team. The Vietnam team won 7 matches and drew 1 match out of these 8 matches.

Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim advised: "To prepare for the match with the Vietnamese team, Malaysia needs to play friendly matches with opponents similar to Vietnam. Through such matches, Malaysian players will know what to do when facing this team, and find solutions to face coach Kim Sang Sik's team."

Malaysia and Vietnam will meet on June 10, in Malaysia. This is the first leg of the two teams, in Group F, the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.