AFF Cup 2026 has not started yet, but Indonesian media are already wary of facing Vietnam’s national team.

Indonesian media express caution before the AFF Cup 2026 draw, as a challenging scenario is widely anticipated.

Before the ASEAN Championship (AFF Cup) 2026 draw scheduled at 4 PM on January 15 in Jakarta, Indonesian media reveal clear concerns. According to CNN Indonesia, Indonesia’s team being placed in a lower-seeded group increases the likelihood of an early clash with Southeast Asia’s top teams in the group stage.

Vietnam enters the tournament as the reigning champion and is seeded in the top pot. Thailand is also in this group due to its consistent performance in the last two AFF Cups. CNN Indonesia elaborates on the advantage of these two teams: "Vietnam and Thailand, having won the AFF Cup 2024 and been runners-up in 2022, and vice versa, both hold an average point score of 1.5, placing them in the top seed group."

Conversely, Indonesia must face the consequences of underwhelming past results. Finishing 4th in 2022 and failing to pass the group stage in AFF Cup 2024, the Indonesian team dropped to the third seed group, even behind the Philippines, putting themselves at a disadvantage for the draw.

AFF has announced five seed groups, each containing two teams. Besides Vietnam and Thailand in group 1, group 2 includes Malaysia and Singapore; group 3 has the Philippines and Indonesia; group 4 consists of Cambodia and Myanmar; group 5 includes Laos and the winner of the Brunei - Timor Leste qualifier.

Based on this structure, CNN Indonesia paints a worrying picture for their team if placed in a tough group: "With these seed groups, the scenario looks very unfavorable for Indonesia, as there is a high chance they will be grouped with Vietnam or Thailand, and potentially also face Malaysia."

The Indonesian newspaper continues its analysis: "If this happens, it would be the worst-case scenario for Indonesia, as facing Malaysia is already tough, not to mention competing against either of the two finalists from the 2024 tournament, Thailand and Vietnam."

The situation is further complicated for Indonesia since AFF Cup 2026 does not fall within FIFA international windows. New coach John Herdman admits it will be difficult to call up naturalized players currently playing in Europe, forcing him to rely on domestic players and young talents from the U.23 squad for the tournament running from July 24 to August 26.

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