In the second round of Group D of the 2024 Asian Cup, Vietnam, ranked 94th in the world, unexpectedly lost 0-1 against Indonesia, ranked 146th, and caused another big upset.
Considering that the two teams lost to Japan and Iraq in the first round, this battle can be described as a battle of life and death. However, the situation was reversed, and the stronger Vietnamese team was defeated by the Indonesian team in the first half, and despite the fierce counterattack in the second half, they failed to equalize and finally lost.
The result of this match had a significant impact on the Group D layout. In this Asian Cup, the teams participating in Group D are strong, with Japan and Iraq being traditional forces.
Iraq defeated Japan 2-1 in the first round, and Indonesia's victory over Vietnam also put Group D in a scuffle. At present, Iraq has qualified two rounds ahead of schedule; Japan and Indonesia are in second and third place, with 3 points; Vietnam is temporarily at the bottom, accumulating zero points.
This situation in Group D has formed a favorable situation for the Chinese team. According to the competition system, the top two teams in the group will qualify directly, and the four teams with the best results will also qualify for the third place.
Iraq locked up the first place in advance, and Japan will be going all out in the final round of matches against Indonesia to fight for a better goal difference. Even if Japan succeeds in overtaking Indonesia to take second place, Indonesia is likely to exit the tournament with a record of 1 win and 2 losses, with a negative goal difference.
And even if Vietnam can beat Iraq in the final round, they will only get three points at most, and the goal difference will still not improve significantly. This means that the final points for third place in Group D are likely to be only three points, with a negative goal difference.
It is great news for the Chinese team, as long as they can draw with Qatar in the final round and get a 3-point 0-goal difference, they can finish third in Group D and are expected to advance as the best group third.
Of course, this requires the cooperation of other groups. But it is foreseeable that the third place in groups B, C, E, and F is unlikely to have a better result than the Chinese team.
At this time, the Chinese team only needs to beat any team in the third place of these groups to enter the round of 16 smoothly. Even if Tajikistan draws with Lebanon and China draws with Qatar, they can finish second in the group.
It can be said that with the "help" of half of Asia, the prospects of the Chinese team to advance are very optimistic. Of course, this is all based on the Chinese team's victory over Qatar.
This game is a crucial battle of life and death for the Chinese team, and the players must play their best to fight for a valuable point in order to qualify. In any case, Chinese fans are full of confidence and believe that the national football team will be able to explode at a critical moment and complete the final historical task.