Vietnam to play final round of World Cup 2022 Qualifiers at home

Vietnam will be the home team at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi for the final round of the World Cup 2022 Qualifiers.

This photo was taken at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi in 2019.  The Golden Dragons will have five home matches from September 7 to March 29, 2022. Photo: Ngoc Tu

The decision was made at a meeting between the Hanoi authority and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on July 14 chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam who is also head of the National Standing Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

As scheduled, the third round of the World Cup 2022 Asian Qualifiers will take place from September 2, 2021, to March 29, 2022. The Vietnamese team will have five home matches on September 7 vs Australia; November 11 vs Japan; November 16 vs Arab Saudi; February 1, 2022, vs China; and March 24, 2022, vs Oman. The five away matches will fall on September 2; October 7, 2021; October 12, 2021; January 27, 2022; and March 29, 2022.

Under the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regulations, countries that want to host home matches need to ensure that the away teams would not have to be quarantined or isolated for a maximum of two days. Meanwhile, Vietnam like many other countries namely Australia, China requires a quarantine period of 14 to 21 days.

According to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF)’s Secretary General Le Hoai Anh, both the home and away teams need to follow the AFC’s “biomedical bubble” that imposes match operation protocol against Covid-19. Under which, players are not allowed to contact individuals outside the bubble.

As required by the National Standing Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, the workforce joining the hosting and services in the home field need to get vaccinated.

“Conditions for organizing the matches completely depend on the host country and the pandemic situation in that country,” he said, noting that the matches in Hanoi would be attended by supporters.

As decided by AFC, all matches at the third round of the World Cup Asian Qualifiers would be equipped with a video assistant referee (VAR) that helps review decisions made by the head referee with the use of video footage and headset for communication.

Vietnam advanced to the final round of the World Cup Qualifiers for the first time. On July 13, it received merit from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.