Hanoi plays The Cong Viettel in the 'death' bracket, HAGL faces difficulties: How is Cong Phuong's team?

In a thrilling match in the National Cup, who will Hanoi face?

The 2025 - 2026 National Cup draw has brought an interesting bracket, when 3 championship candidates including Hanoi Police Club (CAHN Club), Hanoi Club and The Cong Viettel were grouped into a crowded bracket.

Specifically, Hanoi FC will meet The Cong Viettel in the preliminary round of the National Cup. The winner of the preliminary round will meet CAHN FC in the round of 16.

PHOTO: VPF

For the first time in history, 3 of the top 4 teams in the V-League are in the same bracket for the National Cup qualifying round. Thus, only 1 of the 3 names including Hanoi, CAHN Club or Viettel The Cong will make it to the quarterfinals. The matches in this bracket can be considered as the early finals of the National Cup.

In the remaining brackets, the strong teams all face opponents of equal strength. In the round of 16, Nam Dinh will meet the winner of the Long An/Binh Dinh match, the current runner-up SLNA will meet the winner of the Da Nang/Ho Chi Minh City Youth match, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club (receiving a priority ticket) will meet Ho Chi Minh City or Dong Thap, or PVF-CAND (also receiving a priority ticket) will compete with the winner of Thanh Hoa and HAGL.

The bracket correlation is opening the door to the semi-finals wide open for Ho Chi Minh City Police Club, Nam Dinh in bracket A, as well as PVF-CAND in bracket B. Meanwhile, the defending champion CAHN Club will face a big challenge when they have to meet Hanoi or The Cong Viettel in the round of 16. However, if they reach the quarter-finals, coach Alexandre Polking and his team will "breathe easily" when they will definitely meet a first-class team (Khanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Bac Ninh or Van Hien University).

Tuoi Dong Nai School faces 'difficult' obstacles

Also this morning (August 11), the organizing committee drew lots for the first division tournament schedule.

The current runner-up Truong Tuoi Dong Nai must play away against Quang Ninh at Cam Pha Stadium in the opening match. With a team of experienced players and the advantage of the "fire pan" Cam Pha, Quang Ninh is ready to create a surprise against Cong Phuong's team - the number one candidate for the championship.

Also on the opening day of the first division, there was an interesting match between Ho Chi Minh City Club and Ho Chi Minh City Youth. Ho Chi Minh City Club was formerly the Ba Ria - Vung Tau team, renamed after Ba Ria - Vung Tau province merged and became a part of Ho Chi Minh City.

Although both teams have the same name, Ho Chi Minh City Youth Team and Ho Chi Minh City Youth Team are not related to each other in terms of human resources and facilities.

Dong Thap FC will play at home against Binh Dinh, PVF-CAND Youth (the team promoted to replace PVF-CAND) will compete with Hoa Binh, and Long An will face newcomer Bac Ninh. The away match at Long An Stadium in hot weather will be a test of Bac Ninh's ability, the million-dollar team coached by Coach Park Hang-seo.