Vietnam to face strong rivals in 2018 FIFA World Cup's 2nd qualification round

In Group F, Vietnam will compete with Iraq, Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan under a double round robin format from June 11, 2015 to March 29, 2016.

Besides Taiwan considered the underdogs, Vietnam will face challenges from equally-ranked rivals Thailand and Indonesia and favorites Iraq, who were the 2007 Asian Cup champions.

In the group stage of the AFF Suzuki Cup last year, Vietnam were held to a 2-2 draw by Indonesia.

Drawing for 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup

The drawing event was organized in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday to pool 40 teams who advanced from the first qualification round last month, into eight groups for the second round.

Eight group winners and four best runners-up based on their goal difference and head-to-head results will advance to the final qualifying round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The 12 teams, who will certainly book their places in the finals of the 2019 Asian Cup, will go on to fight for four or five tickets to Russia in 2018.

For the Asian Cup campaign, the same 12 teams will join the 12 squads that follow them in the second qualification round to contend in the finals of the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

The 2019 Asian Cup marks the first time the final round has 24 teams, instead of 12 as before.

The drawing results for the second qualification round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup:

Group A: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Timor Leste, Malaysia
Group B: Australia, Jordan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh
Group C: China, Qatar, the Maldives, Bhutan, Hong Kong
Group D: Iran, Oman, India, Turkmenistan, Guam
Group E: Japan, Syria, Afghanistan, Singapore, Cambodia
Group F: Iraq, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei
Group G: South Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar, Laos
Group H: Uzbekistan, Bahrain, the Philippines, North Korea, Yemen