AFC Cup (U-23): Does Kyrgyzstan have a chance to advance to the playoffs?

After the defeat to Vietnam, the players of the Kyrgyzstan U-23 national football team could not hold back their tears.

In the second round of the group stage of the Asian Cup, the Kyrgyz team conceded a goal first, but quickly restored parity thanks to a magnificent shot from Marlen Murzakhmatov. Unfortunately, at the end of the match, a defender of the Kyrgyz national team mishandled the ball, which ended up in the net defended by Kurmanbek Nurlanbekov.

This defeat marked the second consecutive loss for the Kyrgyz team, and some players collapsed on the pitch in tears. Two losses in two matches significantly reduce the team's chances of advancing from the group, but there is still hope...

That same evening, another match took place in our group, where Saudi Arabia, despite leading, ultimately lost to Jordan.

After two rounds in Group A, the situation is such that all four teams have chances both to advance to the playoffs and to be eliminated from the tournament. Even the Kyrgyz national team, which currently has 0 points, still has the possibility to continue the fight. Vietnam, which has won both games, could also lose the chance to progress further.

At the moment, Vietnam leads the table with 6 points, followed by Jordan and Saudi Arabia, each with 3 points. Kyrgyzstan is at the bottom of the table with zero points in the "points earned" column.
The final matches of the group will take place on January 12. Kyrgyzstan will face Jordan, while Saudi Arabia will play against Vietnam.

Currently, not everything is in the hands of the Kyrgyz national team, but even after two defeats, we still have theoretical chances to advance to the quarterfinals — which is quite surprising.

In the last match of the group stage, our team needs to win against Jordan by a margin of at least two goals (for example, 2:0, 3:0, 3:1, 4:2, and so on). Any other outcome will deprive Kyrgyzstan of the chance to continue in the tournament.

However, that’s not all the conditions. In a parallel game, we must hope for a victory of Vietnam over Saudi Arabia by any score.

If everything goes according to this scenario, the Kyrgyz national team will earn 3 points and tie with Saudi Arabia and Jordan on this indicator. In case of a tie in points, the goal difference will be taken into account, and it is important that we defeat Jordan by a margin of two goals.

If everything goes well, the Kyrgyz national team will take second place in Group A and will be able to continue the fight in the playoffs, despite the unfortunate start of the tournament.

Note that the matches of the final round will take place simultaneously, so teams will not be able to rely on the results of other matches.