Vietnam to play Japan at Asian Cup 2023

The national team coached by Phillippe Troussier are scheduled to compete against four-time winners Japan at Al Thumama Stadium at 18:30 on January 14, Indonesia at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium at 21:30 on January 19, and Asian Cup 2007 champions Iraq at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium at 18:30 on January 24.

In the group, Japan are expected to be the leading candidate in claiming top spot.

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup, which was initially planned to be held in June and July, has been rescheduled to take place from January 12 to February 10, 2024, in Qatar after China withdrew as the original hosts due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in the country.

The 24 teams are divided into six groups to play in a round-robin format in each group. 

The top two teams from each group, as well as the four best-performing third-placed teams, will advance to the round of 16.

At the 2019 Asian Cup under the tutelage of coach Park Hang Seo, Vietnam qualified to the knock-out round as one of the best third-placed teams. The Golden Star Warriors therefore advanced to the quarter-finals and lost 1-0 to Japan afterwards.