Vietnam's U.17 team needs significant investment for the World Cup.

The Vietnam U.17 team has shown its potential, but there is still much work to be done to be able to perform well at the World Cup.

Vietnam U.17 team reveals weaknesses.

The Vietnam U17 team was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship after a 0-3 defeat against Australia U17. In fact, the Vietnam U17 team still played their familiar fast-paced football, but their opponent was very different. Australia U17 still retained prominent players like striker Georgio Hassarati, along with Corey Da Cruz, Aston Reid, Luke Becvinovski… however, they were significantly strengthened by five quality additions, such as goalkeeper Charlie Wilson-Papps, who previously played for England U15 and is currently the starting goalkeeper for Brighton U18 in the Premier League; defender Harrison Bond (Red Bull Salzburg, Austria) and striker Gabriel Lombardi (Parma, Italy). Facing such a strong and deep opponent, the Vietnam U17 team encountered the biggest difficulties since the start of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship. We regret the missed opportunities in the first half, but it cannot be denied that the opponent had a plan to neutralize the strengths of the Vietnam U17 team and effectively exploit their weaknesses, especially their physical stature.

Football expert Doan Minh Xuong analyzed: "The defeat against U17 Australia points out a problem: While investment in youth football training in Vietnam has led to progress and encouraging achievements, the format of continental-level tournaments, with their short playing times and high frequency, clearly reveals issues of stamina and strength. U17 Vietnam's loss to U17 Australia is similar to when U23 Vietnam reached the semi-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship and faced a much stronger China team, leading to exhaustion and defeat. Looking back at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship, Coach Cristiano Roland's team had to strain themselves in three tough group stage matches. Failing to secure a point against U17 South Korea meant U17 Vietnam had to give their all in the crucial match against U17 UAE. Therefore, when facing the stronger U17 Australian team (average height 1.79 m and weight 72 kg), U17 Vietnam (average height) was outmatched." "He is 1.73 m tall and weighs 65.65 kg. He no longer has the physical endurance to withstand pressure from his opponent, allowing them to exploit his weakness in stamina and physical strength."

Vietnam U.17 team returns home, coach Cristiano Roland sheds tears amidst the embrace of fans.

Vietnam U.17 (right) , despite progress, still has many weaknesses that need improvement.

PHOTO: VFF

Positive adjustments are needed to perform well at the World Cup.

In the quarter-final match against Australia U17, the Vietnam U17 team controlled 53% of the ball possession and confidently took the initiative in attack. The fact that Australia U17 committed 17 fouls and received 2 yellow cards (Vietnam U17 committed 6 fouls and received no cards) shows their pragmatic approach: they weren't afraid to commit fouls to stop Vietnam U17's quick, short-passing attacks. However, Australia U17 had 17 shots (7 on target, 7 off, and 3 blocked) compared to Vietnam U17's 11 (4 on target, 4 off, and 3 blocked), indicating that their opponents had a more effective approach to goalkeeper Ly Xuan Hoa's goal.

Expert Doan Minh Xuong stated: "When forced to play offensively to seek victory, the Vietnam U17 team created opportunities but also revealed weaknesses, leading to an imbalance in defense. When facing opponents who maintain good pressure and switch quickly like South Korea, UAE, or Australia U17, we are easily conceded goals. This shows that Vietnam still has a gap in strength, endurance, and resilience compared to the top teams in Asia. Narrowing this gap is not something that can be achieved overnight, but requires a long-term strategy."

The four matches in the 2026 AFC U-17 Championship showed that the Vietnamese U-17 team has made progress, developing clear tactics and playing confidently despite being in a very tough group. However, the reality is that there is still a disparity between the starting lineup and the reserves, forcing the coaching staff to often stick to one starting lineup, leading to many players running out of steam. Overall, the Vietnamese U-17 team has gained valuable experience to prepare for the U-17 World Cup in November 2026. We need to invest heavily because the Vietnamese U-17 team has proven its potential to become the fifth "Golden Generation" of Vietnamese football. One challenge is maintaining a high intensity of training and competition for young players at their clubs. The good news is that this year the VFF will implement a national U-17 tournament in a round-robin format, helping players improve their number of matches and the quality of real-world competition.

Furthermore, the Vietnam U17 team needs regular international match practice against strong opponents such as Japan, South Korea, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan… or even training in Europe. Only training and competing in a highly competitive environment will help young players improve quickly. Hopefully, the Vietnam U17 coaching staff will boldly give more opportunities to reserve players to strengthen the squad and ensure proactive play to perform well at the upcoming World Cup."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u17-viet-nam-can-duoc-dau-tu-manh-cho-world-cup-185260517221837979.htm