Laos vs Vietnam

Vietnam’s 2022 AFF Championship Group B journey kicks off at the New Laos National Stadium against tournament outsiders Laos.

Laos’ third successive appearance at the AFF Championship since failing to qualify for the tournament in 2016 puts them in front of a mammoth task as they bid to reach the knockouts for the first time after 12-straight failed attempts. However, Laos’ all-time record at the AFF Championship reads embarrassingly (W2, D5, L34), with the ‘Warlord Paprika’ losing each of their last 11 matches in the competition. On top of that, Michael Weiß’s men slipped to a disastrous 5-0 defeat to Thailand’s U23 team in their final exhibition match ahead of the 2022 AFF Championship edition, making it three losses in four internationals (W1). If that’s not enough to dampen their spirits, a woeful run of three consecutive H2H defeats to Vietnam at this tournament by an aggregate score of 8-0 may do the trick.

In the meantime, Vietnam failed to defend their 2018 title at the last tournament, bowing out at the hands of eventual winners Thailand in the semifinals. However, since waving goodbye after the tournament’s group stages in 202, they have at least reached the semifinals in the last four editions. Odds-on favorites to dispatch a lowly Laos in their Group B curtain-raiser, the Golden Star Warriors’ can fall back on their outrageous overall H2H record against this opposition (W5, D0, L0), safe in the knowledge that four of those five victories have come by 3+ goals ‘to nil.’ Furthermore, Vietnam’s pre-tournament form waxes lyrical about their hopes of launching another impressive group-stage campaign, with Park Hang-seo’s team winning five games in succession in the lead-up to this encounter.