U16 Vietnam meets Australia again in tournament in China

Midfielder Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc started all three matches at the 2025 AFC U17 Championship. Photo: VFF.

The tournament brings together four youth teams including U16 Vietnam, U16 Australia, U16 Saudi Arabia and the host team U16 China. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) organized the tournament to help young players have more opportunities to compete, practice, and prepare for the 2026 AFC U17 qualifiers starting next November.

From 2025, the AFC U17 Championship and U17 World Cup will be held annually, so the corresponding qualifying campaigns will also be held annually.

This is not the first time that Vietnamese youth teams have participated in a friendly tournament in China. Most recently, Vietnam U16, under the guidance of coach Cristiano Roland, won 1-0 against Japan U16 at the 2024 International U16 Tournament.

In preparation for the upcoming tournament, U16 Vietnam is expected to gather in mid-May in Hanoi . The team will have about two weeks of training before leaving for China to participate in the tournament. Regarding the force, U16 Vietnam will gather players born in 2009 or later.

This is also the age group where many players have been given the opportunity to train with the Vietnam U17 team in preparation for the 2025 AFC U17 Championship. Notable among them are the midfielder duo Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc and Nguyen Van Duong, who made it onto the official list.

The head coach position has not been finalized by VFF, but it is likely that it will continue to be coach Cristiano Roland - who is very "cool" with Vietnam's youth teams.

At the recent 2025 AFC U17 Championship, Vietnam U17 under the leadership of coach Roland tied with Australia U17 1-1. Vietnam U16 will likely meet familiar faces from Australia U17 in the upcoming friendly tournament.

Source: https://znews.vn/u16-viet-nam-gap-lai-australia-o-giai-dau-tai-trung-quoc-post1548242.html