HANOI: Vietnam fired its national team coach Philippe Troussier after a humiliating 0-3 defeat at the hands of the Indonesian national team in the second round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup Asia Zone on Tuesday (26 March), the Vietnam Football Federation announced.
The French coach, who replaced South Korean coach Park Hang-seo last year, accepted the decision after a meeting with federation officials after the heavy defeat at My Dinh Stadium, Hanoi.
This defeat was the second time that the Indonesian national team “Uncle Ho” was silenced by the Indonesian national team which was managed by the coach Shin Tae-yong within a span of six days.
Previously, the Indonesian national team defeated Vietnam with a narrow score of 1-0 at Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta on March 21.
Vietnam has never appeared in a World Cup, but with the number of Asian slots increasing to eight at the 2026 World Cup, there is hope that the former Japan coach can lead the country to make history.
However, this consecutive defeat narrows Vietnam’s chances, which are currently four points behind Indonesia.
Vietnam must win against the Philippines and Iraq in June and hope Indonesia fail to collect three points from their remaining two games.
Iraq secured one of the group’s two qualifying spots after beating the Philippines 5-0.
This landslide victory brought the team coached by Jesus Casas to a perfect performance with 12 points from four matches.
Only the top two teams from each of the nine groups will qualify directly for the 2027 Asian Cup and advance to the 3rd round of World Cup qualifying.
For Troussier himself, this is the second time he has lost his position because he lost against the Indonesian national team.
The 69 year old coach was previously dismissed by Qatar twenty years ago after a surprising 1-2 defeat in the first group stage match of the 2004 Asian Cup.
Throughout his time dealing with Vietnam, Troussier, who was known as the White Witch because of his cold hands, had not been able to decide on a bad result against Indonesia.
During the 3 times they met Indonesia in early 2024, Troussier and Vietnam lost 3 times, including a 0-1 defeat in the group phase of the 2023 Asian Cup.
