The only team from Southeast Asia to qualify for the U17 World Cup.

U17 - Ảnh 1. — Vietnam U17 is the only Southeast Asian representative to participate in the 2026 U17 World Cup - Photo: AFC

A total of nine tickets to the 2026 U17 World Cup will be awarded to Asia, including one guaranteed spot for World Cup host nation Qatar, and eight tickets for the best-performing teams in the 2026 AFC U17 Championship.

Since Qatar finished third in Group A, the top eight teams from each group in the tournament automatically qualify for the World Cup. Southeast Asia already has a strong contingent in the tournament, including four teams: Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

Among these, Thailand is considered the strongest because they are in a relatively easy group, including host nation Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Myanmar.

Being drawn into the same group as the weakest Southeast Asian representative in the tournament, along with a not-so-strong Central Asian team, presented a great opportunity for Thailand to secure the second qualifying spot alongside host nation Saudi Arabia. However, the "War Elephants" completely disappointed.

After 3 matches, the Thailand U17 team has only managed a single point. They couldn't even beat Myanmar (drawing 2-2), and lost the other two matches.

Indonesia's U17 team performed more impressively in Group B, winning their opening match against China, but then lost their next two matches against Qatar and Japan. Ultimately, Indonesia finished last in the group in a bitter fashion. They were tied on points with second-placed China and third-placed Qatar, but lost the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Vietnam U17's group is also not easy, with the presence of South Korea and UAE, two Asian football powerhouses.

Vietnam U17 could have even secured qualification early if they hadn't collapsed in the last 10 minutes of the match against South Korea. Coach Cristiano Roland's team even led 1-0 until the 83rd minute before losing 1-4.

But this defeat turned out to have no negative impact on the Vietnam U17 team. The victory against UAE ultimately helped the team climb to the top of the group.

Thus, Vietnam U17 is the only Southeast Asian representative to qualify for the 2026 U17 World Cup. In the past, Indonesia made history by qualifying for the tournament twice.

The first time was thanks to their status as hosts of the tournament in 2023. That year, Indonesia earned 2 points in Group A.

By 2025, Indonesia secured their qualification by reaching the quarter-finals of the AFC U17 Championship that year. At the 2025 U17 World Cup, Indonesia achieved a historic victory against Honduras, but were still eliminated in the group stage.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doi-bong-duy-nhat-o-dong-nam-a-gianh-ve-du-world-cup-u17-20260514083208843.htm