The door to the 2018 World Cup officially closed on Vietnam after they succumbed to a 0-1 defeat against Iraq in their last Group F clash of the second World Cup qualifying round, held on neutral ground in Tehran, Iran on March 29.

Ahead of the match, Vietnam stood third in Group F with seven points, just two points behind Iraq in second place. A win was needed for Vietnam to enhance their possibility of advancing into the third World Cup qualifying round as one of the four best runner-up teams.

However, Iraq proved too strong for Vietnam to overcome. The Southwest Asian team played offensively right from the start, forcing Vietnam to focus on defence throughout the majority of the match.

The solitary goal was scored for Iraq by substitute Mohannad Abdul Raheem in the first minute of first-half injury time with a shot deflected off his knee from close range.

The narrow victory against Vietnam helped Iraq safeguard their runner-up position in Group F with 12 points, which was also enough to secure them a berth in the third qualification for the World Cup as one of the four second-placed teams, alongside Syria, the United Arab Emirates and China.

Earlier, Group F leader Thailand became eligible for the last World Cup qualifying stage along with Saudi Arabia (Group A leader), Australia (Group B leader), Qatar (Group C leader), Iran (Group D leader), Japan (Group E leader), the Republic of Korea (Group G leader) and Uzbekistan (Group H leader).

Despite failing to carry on with the World Cup qualification campaign, Vietnam has qualified for the third round of the 2019 Asian Cup as the third-placed team of Group F.

The third qualification round, scheduled to take place from March 28, 2017 to March 27, 2018, will bring together 24 teams competing in six groups of four, with the top two teams from each group to be awarded a place in the 2019 Asian Cup.

Nhan Dan