Vietnam to face Indonesia in SEA Games 31 group stage

The encounter between Vietnam and Indonesia will be the first game of group A, set to take place on May 6. Indonesia are considered the toughest opponent of Vietnam in group A. The remaining teams in the group are Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor Leste.

Group B has Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore and Cambodia.

The men’s football event of SEA Games 31 will take place from May 6 to 22 at Viet Tri Stadium in the northern Phu Tho Province and Thien Truong in Nam Dinh Province. The final and third-place playoff will be hosted in My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.

Three days after playing Indonesia, Vietnam will face the Philippines. The top two teams of each group will advance to the semifinals.

In the previous edition of SEA Games in 2019, Vietnam claimed the gold medal after defeating Indonesia 3-1 in the final.

Also on Wednesday, the draw for the women’s football event of SEA Games 31 placed Vietnam in group A with the Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia. The Philippines are considered the biggest opponent of Vietnam in this group as they had qualified for 2023 World Cup for the first time earlier this year, just like Vietnam.

Group B has Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Singapore.

The women’s football event will take place from May 9 to 21 in the northern provinces of Hung Yen and Quang Ninh.

Just like the men’s football event, the top two teams of each group will move onto the semifinals.

The women’s team of Vietnam are also the defending champions of the SEA Games gold medal after winning 1-0 against Thailand in the 2019 final.