Striker Nguyen Tien Linh of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is now enjoying an advantage to win a berth at the third round of the 2022 Qatar FIFA Asian World Cup qualifiers, but there is also a possibility that they will fall to the second place and only qualify as one of the best five teams.
Vietnam tightened their grip on the top of Group G after a comfortable 4-0 win against Indonesia, thus enjoying a major advantage in competing for a berth in the next round against the hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), Thailand and Malaysia.
However, the team still faces the risk of elimination if it cannot have satisfying results when playing Malaysia and the UAE.
Vietnam may remain on top of the group and win a ticket to the third round if they can play at full power.
Midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai and other Vietnamese players need to defeat Malaysia on June 11 to strengthen their position. Meanwhile, the UAE are projected to win over Indonesia to continue their bid for the next round.
In that case, the Vietnam-UAE match will be like a “final”. Head coach Park Hang-seo needs to devise plans so that Vietnam can earn at least one point.
Vietnam will advance to the third and final qualifying round if they beat Malaysia and do not lose to the UAE (Photo: VNA)
If Vietnam succeed, there will be no chances for both Thailand and Malaysia, and only Vietnam and the UAE vie for the berth.
In a more ideal scenario, if the “Golden Star Warriors” beat Malaysia while the hosts are held back by Indonesia, Vietnam will surely top the group and enter the next round.
In the worst-case scenario and Vietnam are unable to decide their own fate, they will advance only if they make into the list of five runners-up with the best performance.
In this tournament, the best five runners-up will qualify instead of just four, because Qatar, who are the hosts of the 2022 World Cup and automatically have a place in the global event, are taking the lead in Group E.
FIFA rules that points of groups’ runners-up in matches against bottom place teams will be subtracted as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have withdrawn from the qualifiers.
Accordingly, Vietnam only have eight points as six points earned from two victories against Indonesia are deducted.
As a consequence, results of the last two matches will be decisive to the team’s fate.
Vietnam may be eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers if they underperform in the two remaining matches (Photo: VNA)
If Vietnam win against Malaysia but are beaten by the UAE, they will have 11 points in total.
In such a scenario, chance remains for Vietnam to continue their journey at the qualifiers, because five best runners-up have seven points at most when points are deducted from matches against teams at the bottom. The current second-place teams are hardly to gain a positive result as they will all face sturdy opponents in the remaining two games.
With 11 points, Vietnam can be amongst the five best runners-up in the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
In case the “Golden Star Warriors” suffer a defeat at the hands of Malaysia and the UAE, they have almost no chances.
As a result, beating Malaysia is a task that Quang Hai and his teammates must fulfil on June 11. Three points from this match will help Vietnam gain an upper hand and figure out their next moves./.
Rankings of Group G of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian qualifiers after June 7 (Photo: VNA)
