Vietnam vs South Korea

Two of the originals, seventy-one years on

Only two teams in the 2027 field played at the first Asian Cup, in 1956, and both of them are in Group E. South Korea won that tournament and the next one. South Vietnam finished fourth at both. Kingdom Arena in Riyadh is where the descendants of those two entries meet.

The qualification matters. The 1956 and 1960 results belong to South Vietnam, which existed as a separate state with a separate federation, and they remain the best finishes on the modern Vietnamese record only because the record was inherited. Vietnam as it now exists has never matched those two finishes.

South Korea have the opposite problem with the same dates: two titles, both from that same opening period, and sixty-seven years since without another. Four lost finals have followed, the most recent in 2015. They arrive at every tournament as contenders and leave most of them without the trophy.

The two records

This is a sixth Asian Cup for Vietnam, whose best finish is fourth place (1956, 1960), against a sixteenth for South Korea, best winners (1956, 1960). The Vietnam finish was both as South Vietnam.