According to the new format of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the 32 higher-ranked teams will compete in the Qualifying Stage, divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each, in a single round-robin format. The remaining 12 teams will participate in the Development Stage, consisting of 3 groups of 4 teams each.
The Vietnam U20 team is in the qualifying round and is ranked 14th in Asia by the AFC based on its performance in the three most recent tournaments: the 2023 and 2025 AFC U20 Championships and the 2018 AFC U19 Championship. This ranking places Vietnam U20 in Seed Group 2 along with the U20 teams of Qatar, Indonesia, Syria, Thailand, Yemen, Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan.
According to the AFC's announcement, Vietnam is also one of eight countries hosting the group stages of the Qualifying Phase, alongside Bahrain, Cambodia, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Qatar, Thailand, and Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, Bhutan, Mongolia, and Myanmar will host the group stages of the Development Phase.
In principle, the host teams will be placed in a separate group to ensure each team is in a different group. The AFC will then conduct the draw sequentially from Group 4 to Group 1. Because they are in Seed Group 2, the Vietnam U20 team will automatically be placed in position 2 of the group.
According to the tournament format, the 8 group winners and the 7 best-performing second-placed teams in the Qualifying Stage will qualify for the 2027 AFC U20 Championship Finals (the host nation of the Finals receives a direct entry). In addition, the 6 lowest-ranked teams will be relegated to the Development Stage in the next tournament. Conversely, the 3 group winners and 3 best-performing second-placed teams from the Development Stage will be promoted to the Qualifying Stage in the next cycle.
The 2027 AFC U20 Championship qualifiers will be held from August 31st to September 6th, 2026. The Vietnam U20 team will participate in the competition with a core group of players from the Vietnam U19 team currently being tested at the 2026 Southeast Asian U19 Championship.
The draw for the group stage of the 2027 AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers will take place at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) at 2 PM today (May 28). The Vietnam U20 team is seeded in Group 2 and will play at home in the group hosted by the VFF.
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/hom-nay-boc-tham-vong-loai-u20-chau-a.html
![[Photo] Standing Committee member of the Party Central Committee Tran Cam Tu working with the Central Inspection Committee](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/05/28/1779969579668_ndo_br_bnd-2495-jpg.webp)
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