Vietnam’s national football team’s run in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers has been a great one so far. Despite losing the top spot of Group G to UAE in a close 2-3 defeat last Tuesday, the team still advanced to the third round for the first time in history.
But the road ahead is still long and arduous. Our boys will face several incredibly tough opponents in their bid for the World Cup.
We Global Football – a popular international football statistics site – predicts that we only have a 4.44% chance of passing this round to actually make it to the World Cup.
Still, the low figure hasn’t deterred fans from showing their support. Many say that as long as the players put up a good fight, they’ll be happy no matter the results.
Image credit: We Global Football
As VNExpress reported, global football statistics site We Global Football has run an algorithm to simulate 2,500 possible outcomes of the third round of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. Of these, there are 111 scenarios where Vietnam makes it out. In other words, the chance is 4.44%.
This puts the team in 10th place out of 12 participants. The full list includes:
Footballer Tiến Linh scoring a goal for Vietnam in the Tuesday match versus UAE
Image credit: Thanh Niên
However, We Global Football has stated more accurate rates may be calculated after the group draw that’s set to take place on 24th June.
Here, the 12 teams will be split into 2 groups of 6 to play home-and-away round-robin matches.
The Top 2 teams of each group will advance straight to the World Cup, while the third-placed teams will have to play a fourth round.
It would seem that the odds are stacked against our favor, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of fans from flocking to Facebook posts to voice their support.
For many, even making it this far is already a cause to rejoice, and they’d be proud of the players, no matter what.
Image credit: Nguyễn Đức Tâm
Commenter Nguyễn Đức Tâm shared, “Doesn’t matter if we lose as long as we put up a good fight, just like against UAE.”
Meanwhile, Facebook user Nguyen Ba Minh considers it a huge step forward that Vietnam has a chance, no matter how small.
“If I’d said Vietnam would have a chance to make it to World Cup 5 years ago, people would probably have told me to stop smoking weed,” he wrote.
Image credit: Nguyen Ba Minh
The man meant it as a joke, of course, but it’s indeed a wonder that our team has come so far in the span of just a few years.
Image credit: Trần Thanh Hải
On the other hand, netizen Trần Thanh Hải quipped, “at least it’s a greater chance than you successfully confessing to your crush.”
We admire his positivity. Though at the same time, his statement hits too close to home.
Vietnam has no doubt emerged as a regional powerhouse in recent years, but admittedly, compared to long-established names such as Japan or South Korea, we’re still the massive underdogs.
But let’s not let that stop us from cheering our boys on as they fight for our country’s honor. As we all know, in football, miracles can always happen.
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Cover image adapted from Thanh Niên
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