U17 Vietnam meets Malaysia in the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers

(Dan Tri) - The draw put U17 Vietnam in group C, with the participation of opponents Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Northern Mariana and Macau (China).

According to experts, U17 Vietnam is in a group with the right strength. The main opponent of coach Cristiano Roland and his team is Malaysia. Compared to the national team with many naturalized players, the U17 Malaysia team mainly has domestic players.

The 2026 AFC U17 Championship qualifiers will apply a new competition format: 38 teams will be divided into 7 groups (3 groups of 6 teams, 4 groups of 5 teams). The top 7 teams in each group will qualify for the final round.

In addition, 9 teams were given special permission to enter directly, including host Qatar (host of the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup) and 8 teams that entered the quarterfinals of the 2025 AFC U17 Championship: Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, North Korea, Tajikistan, Japan, UAE and Indonesia.

U17 Vietnam fell into an easy group (Photo: VFF).

The qualifying matches are scheduled to take place from November 22 to November 30, while the finals will be held in Saudi Arabia in May 2026. The top eight teams from the finals will represent Asia at the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup.

Vietnam U17 will gather at the end of October with the core force selected from players with outstanding performance at the 2025 National U17 Tournament. The team is expected to have a training trip in Japan before entering the qualifying round.

Previously, in June 2025, U17 Vietnam participated in an international tournament in China and achieved positive results when they beat Saudi Arabia 2-1, drew China 2-2 and only lost to Australia 1-2.

In addition, VFF was given the right by AFC to host the group of U17 Vietnam, bringing a significant advantage to coach Cristiano Roland and his team.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/u17-viet-nam-gap-malaysia-tai-vong-loai-u17-chau-a-2026-20250807180957644.htm