Mai Duc Chung, head coach of the Vietnamese women’s football team, and his staff are going to tour the team’s three competition venues at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand as forerunners. 

The month-long competition will take place from July 20 to August 20 next year in Australia and New Zealand -- the first co-hosts in the history of the Women’s World Cup.

A draw on Saturday put Vietnam in Group E with the U.S., the Netherlands, and an as-yet-unknown winner of the play-off among Thailand, Cameroon, and Portugal.

All games in the group will be organized in New Zealand.

According to the schedule, the Vietnamese women’s football team will take on the U.S. on July 22, 2023 in Auckland, the play-off winner on July 27, 2023 in Hamilton, and the Netherlands on August 1, 2023 in Dunedin.

Coach Mai Duc Chung and his delegation are poised to visit the three cities from Monday through Thursday to examine the competition venues and select hotels for his team, who will start their training in Germany in early 2023.

The Vietnam Football Federation said it will bring the team to New Zealand early before the opening of the World Cup for getting used to the weather and time zone as July is summer in Vietnam but winter in New Zealand.

Experts have assessed Group E as a hard row to hoe for Vietnam, who are currently 34th in the world ranking and will be playing in the World Cup for the first time while their opponents include two powerhouses the U.S. and the Netherlands. 

The U.S. are the defending and four-time champions in 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019 and the number-one team in the world ranking, while the Netherlands are eighth and the runners-up of the 2019 World Cup.

However, Chung and the players have expressed their excitement for next year’s encounters and yearn to work hard and play hard for the best possible result.

Next summer’s World Cup will be the largest women’s sporting event in history with 32 countries, up by eight from the previous tournament and double the number in 2011. 

Twenty-nine teams have already qualified, with Morocco, the Philippines, Ireland, and Zambia joining Vietnam in making their tournament debuts. 

Ten others will be competing in three intercontinental play-offs in February, when the last three invitations will be handed out.

The top two teams from each four-team group will advance to the knockout rounds.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!