Vietnam football team to bypass first round of 2030 World Cup qualifiers

The qualification format for the 2030 World Cup in Asia has been outlined, with the process set to begin in early 2027. The structure relies heavily on current FIFA rankings to determine seeding and entry points.

Under the proposed format, the first qualifying round will involve 20 teams ranked between 27th and 46th in Asia, competing in home-and-away knockout matches. The 10 winners will advance to the second qualifying round to join the top 26 ranked Asian teams, forming a pool of 36 teams.

Vietnam, currently ranked 99th globally and 17th in Asia, is positioned to bypass the first round and enter directly into the second qualifying round, which is scheduled to run from September 2027 to March 2028. In this stage, 36 teams will be divided into nine groups of four. The top two teams from each group will advance to the third qualifying round, reducing the field to 18 teams.

Maintaining or improving FIFA rankings remains critical for Vietnam, as these rankings will determine seeding for the group draws, potentially influencing the difficulty of their assigned groups.