With the opening of the 2023 Gulf Cup in Iraq and the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian Championships, two Asian football competitions are in full swing. The latest news, Vietnam men's soccer team won 2-0, the total score of 2-0 eliminated Indonesia men's soccer team, head into the finals of the Southeast Asia Championship, while Saudi men's soccer team lost to Iraq 0-2 explosive cold, suffered the first defeat, ranking from the first to the third, which the rise of Iraq and Vietnam, the need for national football attention.
Founded in 1970, the Gulf Cup is the highest level of football competition in the Arab and Middle East region. Saudi Arabia, one of the traditional powerhouses, has won the trophy three times, the last time it was won back in 2003.
The Saudi players have set their sights on winning the Gulf Cup for the first time in 20 years, buoyed by their stunning victory over eventual champions Argentina in Qatar.diriangén - olimpia.
In the first round of the group stage, Saudi Arabia defeated Yemen 2-0 and topped the group points. Now, facing host Iraq in the second round, Saudi Arabia accidentally overturned and finally lost 0-2. In this game, Manin served as the fourth official of the game, and UAE referee Adel Nagbi served as the referee.
The latest edition of the world rankings, Saudi Arabia ranked 49th, Asia is strong in the 5th, Iraq ranked in the 68th, the overall strength is weaker, is no longer the Asian Cup champion that the national team, and finally complete an explosive, to Saudi Arabia's first defeat at the same time, Iraq at the top of the group.
A few hours before the match between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the Southeast Asian Championship ended a semifinal second leg. Vietnam, relying on Nguyen Thanh Ling's goal twice, finally eliminated Indonesia 2-0. Head into the final, this is Vietnam in the last 5 years in the third time to participate in the finals of this tournament. The previous two times won 1 cup and 1 Asia.
In the whole game, Vietnam had a clear advantage, scoring in the opening minutes of the first and second half. At the same time, Vietnam had 12 shots and 7 of them were on target, while Indonesia had only 7 shots and none of them were on target. The difference between the two teams was reflected here.
Both Iraq and Vietnam have improved in recent years and are, if not in Asia's top tier, at least in Asia's second tier, making them two of their closest rivals for the 2026 World Cup.
If there are no naturalized players in the front position of the national football team, it will be reduced to the third-rate level in Asia. Iraq and Vietnam may become potential opponents in the group stage, which will increase the difficulty for the national football team to qualify, because it is truly unable to play against the above two teams. While the opponents are improving, they are still deteriorating.