U23 Asian Cup: Vietnam remain on tenterhooks ahead of final group matches

Malaysia are already out of the reckoning with no points after two matches, while Thailand and South Korea have four each. Vietnam have two points.

Two teams will go through.

Thailand top the group thanks to a fair-play index of 0, while South Korea are at -3 due to a yellow card and a red card.

They square off in the final round on Wednesday.

If Vietnam draw or lose, they will crash out. Even if they win, they need to wait for the result of the other match.

If either Thailand or Korea win, the winner and Vietnam will go through to the quarterfinals. Vietnam will finish second in group C and meet the winner of group D.

If Thailand and South Korea draw, all three teams will be on five points and head-to-head results will be considered to decide the standings.

Earlier Vietnam drew 2-2 with Thailand and 1-1 with South Korea.

If Thailand and Korea draw 0-0 or 1-1, Vietnam and Thailand will go through and South Korea will be eliminated.

If Thailand draw South Korea 2-2, they will finish first. Then Vietnam and South Korea will have to compare their goal difference. To better the Koreans, Vietnam need to beat Malaysia by four goals.

If Vietnam and South Korea have the same goal difference, the fair-play index will come into play. Vietnam have -1 to South Korea’s -3.

If Thailand and South Korea draw 3-3 or more, both will go to the quarterfinals and Vietnam will be out no matter how many goals they score against Malaysia.

Vietnam have in the past advanced with the aid of the fair-play index. In the 2019 Asian Cup, they qualified from the group stage as they had got two yellow cards fewer than Lebanon.

In the 2019 Women’s U19 Asian Cup qualifiers, Vietnam advanced with one yellow card fewer than Iran.