Vietnam U23 team continuously breaks Asian records: Coach Kim rewrites history.

For the first time in the history of the U.23 Asian Championship, the Vietnam U.23 team advanced through the group stage with a perfect record.

Vietnam U23 team breaks historical record.

In their five previous appearances at the AFC U-23 Asian Championship, Vietnam's best group stage performance was 6 points, set in 2024. That was the year coach Hoang Anh Tuan's team beat Kuwait U-23 (3-1) and Malaysia U-23 (2-0), and lost to Uzbekistan U-23 (0-3), finishing second in their group.

Coach Kim Sang-sik and his players equaled the record of 6 points in this year's group stage after just two matches, with Vietnam U23 winning both matches against Jordan U23 (2-0) and Kyrgyzstan U23 (2-1). Just one more point against Saudi Arabia U23 will see Vietnam U23 surpass the highest points total ever achieved in the group stage of the AFC U23 Asian Championship.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is making steady progress with the Vietnam U23 team.

PHOTO: NGOC LINH

And then, the Vietnam U23 team did even better. Dinh Bac and his teammates also defeated Saudi Arabia U23 1-0 to finish Group A with a perfect 9 points. This is the first time in history that the Vietnam U23 team has won all their matches in the group stage of the AFC U23 Asian Championship.

This is also the first time the entire team has finished the group stage in first place. In previous appearances at the tournament, the Vietnam U23 team had 0 points (2016), 4 points (2018), 2 points (2020), 5 points (2022), and 6 points (2024), with their highest finish being second place in the group. Furthermore, the 2026 AFC U23 Championship will be the first time the Vietnam U23 team has won 3 matches (only counting the 90 minutes of regular time). This number of wins equals the total number achieved in the two previous tournaments combined.

Trung Kien and Dinh Bac delivered outstanding performances, helping Vietnam U23 defeat Saudi Arabia and secure a place in the quarterfinals.

The longest winning streak in history.

The victory against U23 Saudi Arabia also helped U23 Vietnam extend their winning streak in official tournaments to 14 matches, spanning from the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian Championship, the 2026 U23 Asian Championship qualifiers, the 33rd SEA Games, and currently the 2026 U23 Asian Championship finals. Throughout this period, U23 Vietnam kept a clean sheet in 9 matches, scored 26 goals, and conceded only 6.

The 14-match winning streak is also the longest in the history of Vietnamese football across all national team levels. In Southeast Asia, the Vietnam U23 team is only one match short of the record of 17 consecutive wins set by the Thailand U23 team more than a decade ago.

By leading the Vietnam U23 team to the quarterfinals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, coach Kim Sang-sik has also accomplished another goal in his contract with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

Specifically, Mr. Kim helped the Vietnamese national team win the 2024 AFF Cup, the U23 Vietnamese team win the Southeast Asian U23 Championship and the SEA Games, and reach the quarterfinals of the Asian U23 Championship. With the tasks assigned by the VFF, Mr. Kim always completed at least the required number of tasks, or even exceeded expectations. Once the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) finalizes the penalty for Malaysia's loss due to falsified naturalization documents, the Vietnamese national team will also have achieved its goal of qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup.

Vietnamese football has had a glorious 2025 with 3 major titles, and is now starting 2026 in the most impressive way possible.

Watch the entire 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship Finals on TV360 at https://tv360.vn. Enjoy a smooth multi-platform experience, rewind and replay, and free Viettel 4G/5G data.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-viet-nam-lien-tuc-pha-ky-luc-chau-a-thay-kim-viet-lai-lich-su-185260113022753163.htm