Vietnam drawn in tough group in Women’s Olympic Football Asian qualifiers

Vietnam have been drawn against the DPR Korea, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Myanmar in Group A as the draw results for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020 Asian Qualifiers Round Three were announced in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 18.

Vietnam (in red) have been drawn into the "group of death" in the final round of the 2020 Women's Olympic Football Asian Qualifiers.
Vietnam (in red) have been drawn into the "group of death" in the final round of the 2020 Women's Olympic Football Asian Qualifiers.

Round Three sees eight teams divided into two groups of four, with Group A consisting of Australia, China, Chinese Taipei and Thailand.

The teams will compete in a round robin format to determine the top two teams from each group to advance to the playoff tournament.

The playoff tournament will be played on a home and away basis, with the two overall winners joining Asian title holders Japan to represent Asia in next year’s Olympic Games.

The group stage of Round Three is scheduled to take place from February 3-9, 2020, while play-off matches will be played on March 6 and March 11, 2020.

The DPR Korea and the RoK are the toughest opponents in Vietnam’s group-stage campaign.

After the disclosure of the draw results, Vietnam head coach Mai Duc Chung stated that the DPR Korea and the RoK are the toughest opponents in Vietnam’s group-stage campaign. Meanwhile, Australia and China are considered the favourites against Thailand and Chinese Taipei in Group B.

With the format of picking up the top two teams from each group for the play-off tournament, Vietnam will still stand a chance of progressing further despite difficulties, he said.

As scheduled, after completing their Southeast Asian (SEA) Games mission, the Vietnam women’s team will have 7-10 days off before reconvening to prepare for the final round of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020 Asian Qualifiers.