From miracles at the youth football level
Ten years ago, the Vietnam U19 team made history for Vietnamese football by defeating Bahrain U19 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 AFC U19 Championship, thereby securing a ticket to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. This marked the first time the Vietnamese men's 11-a-side football team had participated in a World Cup final tournament within the FIFA competition system.
The generation that achieved the miracle of the Vietnam U19 team that year later included many players who became pillars of Vietnamese football, such as Nguyen Quang Hai, Nguyen Tien Linh, Nguyen Hoang Duc, Doan Van Hau, Tran Dinh Trong... They contributed to bringing Vietnamese football into a successful period with the AFF Cup 2018 and AFF Cup 2024 championships, two consecutive SEA Games gold medals in 2019 and 2022, and the first-ever appearance in the final qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in the Asian region.
Ten years later, the Vietnam U17 team became the second Vietnamese men's 11-a-side football team to qualify for the World Cup. This time, the journey didn't require reaching the semi-finals of the continental tournament like the Vietnam U19 team did before, but only the quarter-finals. However, that doesn't diminish the value of the Vietnam U17 team's success.
And when the Vietnam U17 team, under the guidance of coach Cristiano Roland, secured a ticket to the FIFA U17 World Cup 2026 after a thrilling 3-2 victory against the United Arab Emirates U17 team, fans have the right to expect a new generation capable of helping Vietnamese football move closer to the goal of participating in the World Cup at the national team level.
However, Vietnam's U17 team qualifying for the World Cup is only one step on the journey towards bigger goals for Vietnamese football. Football expert Phan Anh Tú believes that the current U17 players still have a long way to go to prove themselves and achieve greater success. Professional football is always harsh, with constant competition and elimination. A player may be considered a prodigy when young, but a few years later may fail to establish themselves in the top-level football environment.
...to making systematic investments for higher goals.
What Vietnamese football needs most after the recent successes of youth football, especially after the success of the Vietnam U17 team, is to turn those successes into motivation for more localities, clubs, and training units to invest more strongly in youth football, thereby creating a rich source of players for the national team in the future.
In fact, the success of the Vietnam U20 team in 2017 created a positive effect for a period. Many youth training centers received more attention, youth tournaments gained more interest, and many players matured quickly after the World Cup experience.
However, the gap between success at the youth level and the national team level remains significant. To date, the Vietnamese national team has yet to realize its dream of participating in the World Cup. The achievements at the U20 or U17 levels only show potential, not a guarantee of success at the highest level of football.
Therefore, the challenge for Vietnamese football is not simply to produce another generation of talented players, but to maintain a continuous training cycle over many years.
Coach Cristiano Roland also emphasized the importance of systematic investment when discussing the Vietnamese U17 team's journey at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship. He stated: “This is the result of sound investment from the Vietnam Football Federation and the support of President Tran Quoc Tuan. Youth football requires patience and continuous support. I hope this success will attract more attention and investment, because Vietnamese football has enormous potential and a strong love for the sport from its people.”
Football expert Phan Anh Tú has repeatedly emphasized that youth football only truly has meaning when it creates a quality supply for professional football and the national team. According to him, the most important thing is to ensure that young players, after achieving success at the U17 or U20 level, continue to play, develop, and compete at the highest level.
Many young players who were once highly anticipated later stalled due to a lack of competitive environment or insufficient playing time in the V.League. Success in youth leagues sometimes comes earlier than a player's actual maturity.
A positive sign is that many localities and clubs are now paying more attention to youth training. However, Vietnamese football needs more "satellite" clubs to expand the pool of players nationwide. The more localities invest in youth football, the greater the chance of discovering and nurturing talent. That is the sustainable foundation for World Cup ambitions.
Looking back at the journey from the 2017 U20 World Cup to the 2026 U17 World Cup, Vietnamese football can be proud of its consecutive appearances in major FIFA tournaments. However, this success also places higher demands on the entire system to achieve the goal of building a national team strong enough to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. Only then will the U20 and U17 qualification spots truly become historically significant milestones for Vietnamese football.
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/cho-cu-hich-moi-tu-u17-viet-nam-750249.html
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