The 2 – 0 victory over the Philippines in the opening round of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup is a good start for the Vietnamese team in the 2026 World Cup qualifying round in Asia, and is also a lever of confidence for the teachers and coaches. Troussier.
The Vietnamese team’s opponent is only the Philippines, so the players have promoted the ideas of the French strategist. The players have also developed a ball control and tactically flexible style of play. If we could successfully take advantage of the opportunities created, the results could have been better for the Vietnamese team.
Fans and experts were quite surprised when looking at the starting lineup of the Vietnam team in the opening match against the Philippines. Especially the personnel in the midfield of the Vietnamese team, when Thai Son and Tuan Anh are trusted. This duo gradually brought great confidence from Vietnamese fans when they played the full 90 minutes in the match against the Philippines and both showed impressive performances.
Coach Trousser also instilled confidence in young players such as Vo Minh Trong, Phan Tuan Tai, Ho Van Cuong and especially Nguyen Dinh Bac – the player who scored the winning goal against the Philippines.
But as Coach Troussier shared, each match, each opponent will make Vietnam need a different approach. It can be seen that the French strategist’s ability to identify opponents and use reasonable numbers of troops.
In the match against the Philippines, many key figures of the Vietnamese team such as Que Ngoc Hai, Bui Tien Dung, Do Hung Dung, and Nguyen Hoang Duc did not play. At the press conference before the Vietnam and Iraq matches, when asked about the reason for having so many pillars, coach Troussier said that it was very normal and he chose the appropriate squad according to each opponent and each match.
Coach Troussier also affirmed that the Vietnamese team is prepared and trying their best to achieve good results. The French coach also hopes that the home field advantage and the support of thousands of spectators will add to the spirit of the whole team. Mr. Troussier also emphasized that the Iraqi team will not only face 11 players, but tens of thousands of spectators at My Dinh Stadium.
The Iraqi team is currently ranked 68th on the FIFA rankings, 26 places higher than the Vietnam team. Coming to Vietnam this time, coach Jesus Casas brought 24 players. Among the Iraqi team, the most unfortunate absence was captain midfielder Amjad Atwan due to injury before the match with Indonesia. However, the playing style built by the Spanish coach for nearly a year is still guaranteed to be smooth with high-performing players such as Mustafa Nadhim, Amir Al-Ammari, Hasan Abdulkareem and especially attacking midfielder 19. Ali Jasim’s age.
In the history of confrontation between the two teams, the Vietnamese team has never won against Iraq with 3 losses and 1 draw.
Iraq promises to be a much bigger challenge for coach Troussier and his team. The West Asian team has partly shown why it is considered the best candidate for the top position in Group F when it crushed Indonesia with a score of 5 – 1. In terms of force correlation, Iraq is considered the strongest team in the table. However, with home field advantage and support from fans, the Vietnamese team is expected to create a surprise.
Currently, the Top 10 Asian football (AFC) is divided into 2 groups, with Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia considered “regular” teams of the World Cup. There are still 3.5 spots left for AFC. This is considered a fierce dispute for the second half of the Top 10.
Before the match with Iraq, coach Troussier and his team had a confrontation with China, Uzbekistan and South Korea during FIFA Days in October. Except for Korea, which is too strong, the remaining 2 opponents are in the 3.5 competitive group. The remaining quota for the continent’s World Cup. We received all three defeats, but have since accumulated valuable lessons to have the best preparation for the official match with Iraq, an opponent that is considered more qualified than China. and Uzbekistan.
In their last visit to My Dinh, the Iraqi team had to rely on a penalty kick in the last minute of injury time to achieve a 1-1 draw against Vietnam.
Competing at My Dinh is both a challenge but also a great opportunity for the Vietnamese team to hope to earn points against Iraq. Because looking back at the Vietnamese team’s previous journey in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the passionate cheering of 40,000 spectators throughout each match fueled the players’ spirit when facing Indonesia and Thailand. , Malaysia or UAE. Wins against the UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia and a draw with Thailand at My Dinh helped Vietnam enter the third qualifying round for the first time in history.
A positive result against Iraq, more specifically, a point at home against Iraq will strengthen the spirit and strengthen confidence in the philosophy that coach Troussier built and the path that the Vietnamese team is taking.
The match between Vietnam and Iraq will take place at 7:00 p.m. on November 21.
Speaking before the match:
“This match will be very interesting as the two teams won in the first round. The Vietnamese team is a good team and has a similar playing style to the Iraqi team, controlling the ball. Both teams want to win. In this match, it will not be easy to defeat the Vietnamese team, this will be a difficult match for us.” – Coach Jesus Casas
“This match we will play at My Dinh home field. The players are very confident and can create surprises. We will try to play well, be surprising, move well, pass well, shoot well. If we make good use of it we can have good results.” – Coach Troussier
