VFF speaks out on FIFA's shocking World Cup proposal

According to VFF, increasing the number of World Cup teams would open up more chances for Vietnam, yet the team's own capacity is key.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal to expand the 2030 World Cup from 48 to 64 teams is generating diverse opinions worldwide. For Vietnamese football, this is seen as a chance to get closer to the world's biggest stage. However, leaders of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) believe that the most important factor remains professional preparation and internal strength, rather than merely relying on the expansion of slots.

Sharing about the information that is attracting attention, VFF Vice President Nguyen Xuan Vu said that the organization has only learned about the proposal through media and needs more time to monitor FIFA's next moves. He emphasized: "We have also just received the information through the media, and it is an interesting plan. However, from idea to actual implementation, there are many issues to consider and evaluate more thoroughly. From the perspective of the Vietnam national team and the Southeast Asian region, if FIFA expands the number of teams, we will naturally have more opportunities. But I believe the prerequisite remains our internal preparation."

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vu, Vietnamese football has persistently built a development strategy aimed at greater goals at the regional, continental, and global levels over the years. The positive results of the national teams in recent times have laid an important foundation to fuel the ambition of participating in the World Cup in the future.

Notably, Vietnamese football has continuously made its mark with many outstanding achievements, such as the women's team qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, the men's team winning the AFF Cup two consecutive times, the U17 team earning a World Cup spot, while youth teams also achieved positive results in Asian competitions. These steps forward are regarded as a foundation for Vietnamese football to continue setting higher goals in the coming period.

Nevertheless, VFF leaders affirm that the World Cup is still a very different arena with unique requirements. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vu shared: "In the SEA Games arena, if we used to dream for a long time to get a gold medal, recently in the last four SEA Games, we have won three times. The performance of the youth teams has improved significantly both regionally and continentally. This is an important premise for Vietnamese football to think about higher goals. However, I must emphasize that the World Cup is a very different playground, requiring a strategy and thorough preparation plan with synchronized and steadfast coordination of the entire apparatus."

If FIFA officially approves the plan to expand the World Cup to 64 teams, opportunities for Asian and Southeast Asian representatives will certainly increase. However, Vietnam will have to compete fiercely with rivals such as Thailand, Indonesia, or Malaysia to secure a spot. Therefore, besides waiting for FIFA's decision, Vietnamese football still needs to continue investing in youth training, improving the quality of domestic leagues, and building a sustainable development roadmap to realize the World Cup dream in the future.