Opportunity to affirm the position of regional youth football

VHO - The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has just announced the list of countries hosting the 2026 AFC U17 Men's Championship qualifiers. Accordingly, Vietnam has officially been assigned the right to host a group, along with six other confederations including Bhutan, China, India, Jordan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar.

This is a positive signal showing that the position of Vietnamese youth football is highly appreciated by AFC in terms of both expertise and organizational capacity.

The 2026 AFC U17 Men's Championship Qualifiers will take place from November 22 to 30 with the participation of 38 national teams. The teams will be divided into seven groups, of which three groups have six teams and the remaining four groups have five teams.

According to the competition format, only the top seven teams in each group will qualify for the Final Round. The results of the group draw will be announced at the draw ceremony held on August 7 at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

As the host, Vietnam has a great advantage in terms of mentality, field conditions and support from fans – factors that promise to help coach Nguyen Quoc Tuan and his team make new progress in the continental arena.

Vietnam U17 team played bravely at the 2025 AFC U17 Championship Finals

At the seeding level, the Vietnam U17 team is placed in the number 1 seed group along with strong teams such as U17 Australia, Yemen, Iran, Oman, Thailand and China.

This is a recognition of the efforts and impressive achievements of U17 Vietnam in recent times. At the recently concluded 2025 AFC U17 Championship, U17 Vietnam fell into the group of death with formidable opponents Japan, Australia and UAE.

Despite being underestimated, the red team played bravely, holding all three opponents to a 1-1 draw, including an impressive match against defending champions Japan. Although they could not qualify for the quarter-finals due to inferior goal difference, what U17 Vietnam showed left a strong impression in the hearts of fans.

The AFC's trust in Vietnam to host a qualifying round not only has professional significance but also demonstrates the prestige of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) in organizing work.

This is a great opportunity to affirm the ability to organize international tournaments, while also motivating the young players to prepare towards the goal of winning tickets to the 2026 AFC U17 Finals.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/co-hoi-khang-dinh-vi-the-bong-da-tre-khu-vuc-156998.html