According to the Vietnamese Football Federation, the match between the national teams of Vietnam and China in the third qualifying round will take place on February 1, 2022 (the 1st day of the Lunar New Year) at My Dinh Stadium, Hanoi.

Vietnamese fans support the Vietnamese football team at SEA Games. Photo: VNA

This will be the third consecutive match of the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup that the Vietnamese team plays at its home stadium.

In the previous matches against Japan, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, there only 20,000 fans were allowed to enter the stadium.

In the last two years, attendance at stadiums was only allowed in matches played by the national team.

Before heading to the match against China, coach Park Hang-Seo's troop must prepare well for the confrontation with Australia on January 27 away from home. Currently, the Korean coach already summoned 30 footballers to train for the next matches in the final qualifying round of the World Cup.

The year 2021 is considered a year of failure for the Vietnamese squad as it suffered six defeats in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

In 2022, the team will attend the Southeast Asian U23 football tournament in February in Cambodia; SEA Games 31 in May in Vietnam, and the 19th Asian Games in September.

Being considered as one of the most successful football teams in Southeast Asia, Vietnam won the AFF Championship twice, in 2008 and 2018. Vietnam’s main rivals are higher-level national teams in the AFF, of which Thailand is seen as its biggest rival.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese football fans are among the most ardent in Asia. According to Asian Football Confederation, Vietnam ranks third among the top 10 Asian countries with the highest home attendance in the ongoing 2022 World Cup qualifier matches with a total of 116,135 people at Hanoi's My Dinh Stadium in 2019.