Vietnamese football will contribute two teams to the 2026 Asian Games.

Both the Vietnamese men's and women's Olympic football teams will participate in the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.

Nguyen Le Phat (left) is eligible to join the Vietnam Olympic team at the 2026 Asian Games - Photo: AFC

According to an announcement by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Vietnam will have two football teams participating in the 2026 Asian Games (Asiad).

Based on the performance of national teams in recent continental tournaments, the AFC and OCA have determined the teams that will participate in the 2026 Asian Games football tournament. For men's football, the 16 teams that recently qualified for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship will be included. For women's football, the 12 teams that qualified for the upcoming 2026 Women's Asian Cup will be selected.

With the participation of both the men's and women's national teams, Vietnamese football continues to be a leading force in Southeast Asia. In the men's football event at the Asian Games, the participating teams are Olympic teams, usually consisting of a large number of young players under 23 years old plus a few overage players.

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has developed and approved a plan to send the U21 team to participate in the upcoming Asian Games. This is a long-term plan for the future, including the dream of the Olympics and the World Cup.

The Vietnamese U21 football team boasts many talented players across all positions, not only from within the country but also with foreign ancestry.

Even within the U23 Vietnam team that recently won the bronze medal at the Asian Games, there are still some players like goalkeeper Cao Van Binh, midfielder Le Van Thuan, and striker Nguyen Le Phat who are old enough to participate in the 2026 Asian Games.

The Vietnamese Olympic team reached the top 4 at the 2018 Asian Games, under the leadership of coach Park Hang Seo and with a generation of players from the Changzhou tournament.

NGOC LE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-da-viet-nam-gop-2-doi-tuyen-o-asiad-2026-20260211095849898.htm