The Golden Star Warriors have concluded their World Cup qualifying campaign in the UAE in a fantastic fashion.   

NDO – Vietnam officially surpassed Thailand to set a new points record for a Southeast Asian side at the World Cup qualifiers after concluding their Group G campaign with 17 points.

> Vietnam make history with first-ever slot in final round of World Cup qualifiers

Despite conceding a narrow 2-3 defeat against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the last matchday, the Golden Star Warriors made history by securing their maiden progression into the final round of the World Cup qualifying campaign as one of the best runners-up.

En route to this historic milestone, Park Hang-seo’s troops amassed a tally of 17 points from five wins, two draws and just one loss – the highest among the Southeast Asian teams competing in the tournament (Malaysia - 12 points, Thailand - nine points, Indonesia - one point).

In the past, Thailand made it through to the final round of the World Cup qualifiers twice in 2002 and 2018. Specifically, in 2002, the War Elephants achieved 16 points overcoming Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to advance. In 2018, under the instructions of coach Kiatisuk Senamuang, Thailand repeated such feat finalising their second-round campaign as group leaders with 14 points.

Alongside the points record, Vietnam could have established another new record for Southeast Asian football with an unbeaten run throughout the tournament if they had managed a win or at least a draw against the UAE on Tuesday.

Anyway, the ticket to play in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers is a worthy reward for the significant efforts made by the Golden Star Warriors.

Vietnam finish as the runners-up in Group G with 17 points.