The miraculous achievement of the Vietnam U23 team and the dream of billion-dollar 'super stadiums'.

Báo Thanh niên•20/01/2026

Millions of fans' hearts are turning towards the semi-final of the 2026 AFC U-23 Championship , where Vietnam U-23 will face China U-23 on the night of January 20th, with a completely new mindset. This is because the "Golden Star Warriors" bring not only immense expectations but also unprecedented confidence after a series of four impressive victories. The pinnacle of this was their skillful and classy performance in eliminating formidable opponents such as host nation Saudi Arabia U-23 in the final group stage match and UAE U-23 in the quarter-finals.

Looking at the bigger picture from the journey of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team, Vietnamese sports in early 2026 will also witness a historic transformation in infrastructure. From the dream of repeating the miracle of reaching the continental final to the "super stadiums " that are taking shape, fans have the right to dream of bigger football festivals, even the World Cup.

The journey of the Vietnam U23 team to the semi-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship is exciting fans more than ever.

Photo: AFC - Ted Tran

While Vietnamese fans used to look with admiration at stadiums like Bukit Jalil (Malaysia, 90,000 seats), Gelora Bung Karno (Indonesia, 80,000 seats), or Rajamangala (Thailand, 70,000 seats), the balance is now gradually shifting.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the Rach Chiec National Sports Complex (invested by Sun Group ) officially broke ground on January 15th after decades of being in the planning stage and is expected to be completed in 5 years.

The project has a total investment of over 145,000 billion VND, with the highlight being the 70,000-seat central stadium featuring automatic retractable roof technology and a full-field air conditioning system.

This stadium is significantly larger than even the most modern stadiums today, such as the Singapore National Stadium (55,000 seats) or Hong Kong's new Kai Tak Sports Park (50,000 seats).

Notably, the modern roofing technology will help Rach Chiec become one of the world's most modern covered stadiums, ranking alongside renowned covered stadiums like Principality Stadium (Wales) and surpassing Philippine Arena (55,000 seats) or Singapore National Stadium (55,000 seats) in terms of capacity.

Previously, in Hanoi, the Olympic Sports City project, with an investment of over 925,651 billion VND (invested by VinGroup), was also launched at the end of 2025 and has just established a construction schedule starting in February 2026. The centerpiece of the project is the Trong Dong Stadium, with a designed capacity of 135,000 seats, expected to be completed in August 2028, aiming to serve Olympic-scale events. To put this into perspective, it can be compared to the largest covered stadium in Southeast Asia today, Jakarta International Stadium in Indonesia (82,000 seats), or the American "giant" AT&T Stadium (100,000 seats), even 1.5 times larger than Wembley Stadium (England) and far surpassing the Bird's Nest Stadium (Beijing, China) - the symbol of the 2008 Olympics.

Architect Khuong Van Muoi, former Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Architects, believes that an international-standard sports center is an indispensable piece of a "megacity." According to him, people always expect these facilities to be places for nurturing young talent and improving performance on the international stage. "The world already has many large and modern stadiums like those in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Oman. I am very happy that Vietnam will eventually possess similar world-class architectural projects," Mr. Muoi said.

More importantly, these complexes are not only for hosting tournaments, but also create an Olympic-standard training environment for 90% of sports. In particular, facilities like Rach Chiec and Trong Dong can be flexibly transformed into stages for international concerts, stimulating tourism and the night-time economy…

Ahead lies the semi-final match against China U23, and fans are brimming with hope for a victory that will secure a place in the final for Vietnam U23. Looking further ahead, the ASIAD, the Olympics, or the World Cup are not something that will happen tomorrow. However, with the right investment in human resources and a well-planned infrastructure strategy, the dream of Vietnam hosting regional and global sporting and cultural events is not so far-fetched.