When and where will the Vietnam team meet Japan?

This is the tournament where Coach Troussier and his team are in Group D with Japan (ranked 18th in the world ), Iraq (ranked 68th in the world) and Indonesia (ranked 145th in the world). Thus, "fate" has brought the Vietnamese team (ranked 94th in the world) to meet Iraq and Indonesia, two opponents of Coach Troussier and his team in Group F of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.

This is a difficult group with the presence of the number 1 team in Asia, Japan. The Iraqi team is also rated higher than the Vietnamese boys when they just won 1-0 at My Dinh Stadium on November 21. The team from Indonesia is also an opponent that always causes difficulties for the Vietnamese team every time the two Southeast Asian teams face each other.

According to the 2023 Asian Cup schedule, Coach Troussier and his team will face Japan at Al Thumama Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on January 14, 2024. In the second match, the Vietnamese team will face Indonesia at 9:30 p.m. on January 19, 2024 at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. In the final match, the Vietnamese team will face Iraq at 6:30 p.m. on January 24, 2024 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.

The 2023 Asian Cup Finals have 6 groups, each with 4 teams. The top two teams in each group and the 4 best third-placed teams will advance to the knockout round. With this format, the Vietnamese team can fully hope to qualify for the round of 16. Thus, the match against Indonesia in the second round will be considered the decisive match for the Vietnamese team in finding a ticket to the next round.

Four years ago, the Vietnamese team under the leadership of coach Park Hang-seo reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup and entered the top 8 strongest teams in Asia after losing to the Japanese team with a score of 0-1 from Ritsu Doan's penalty in the 57th minute.