The 33rd SEA Games men's football competition has 11 participating teams, divided into 3 groups: Group A has 3 teams, Group B and C have 4 teams each. The teams are seeded based on their achievements and hosting rights as follows: Group 1 includes Thailand (host team, code A1), Indonesia and Vietnam ; Group 2 includes Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia; Group 3 includes Timor Leste, Philippines, Laos; Group 4 includes Singapore and Brunei. The teams compete in a round robin to calculate points, the three group winners and the second-placed team with the best achievements advance to the semi-finals.

This is the first time that men's football at the SEA Games has been divided into three groups, to help reduce the number of matches played, but the competition will be more fierce. Thailand of course has the biggest advantage as the host, and will most likely be in group A (3 teams).

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U22 Vietnam aims to win the 33rd SEA Games gold medal.

According to the schedule, the group stage will take place from December 3 to December 12; the semi-finals will be held on December 15; the third-place match and the final will be held on December 18. Three stadiums have been chosen as the competition venues, including Rajamangala (Bangkok), Tinsulanonda (Songkhla) and 700th Anniversary of Chiangmai (Chiangmai), of which Rajamangala Stadium will be the venue for the semi-finals, third-place match and the final.

For women's football, the 9 participating teams are also divided into 3 groups, each group has 3 teams. Group 1 includes Thailand (host team, code A1), Vietnam and Myanmar; Group 2 includes Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore; Group 3 includes Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia. The competition format of women's football is similar to men's football with group stage matches taking place from December 4 to December 13; semi-finals on December 14; third place match and final on December 17. The two stadiums chosen to host the group stage matches of women's football are Chonburi and TNSU Chonburi. Chonburi Stadium is the venue for the semi-finals, third place match and final.

At a meeting on the morning of May 21 in Bangkok, the Competition Committee of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) discussed and approved a plan to organize football tournaments in the remaining period of 2025 and important tournaments in 2026.

Accordingly, the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship will be hosted by Vietnam from August 6 to August 19; the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in Indonesia from July 15 to 29; the 2026 ASEAN Cup is scheduled to be held from July 25 to August 26, 2026, and the 2025/26 Southeast Asian Club Championship will take place from August 2025 to May 2026.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u22-viet-nam-nhan-tin-cuc-vui-truoc-sea-games-33-2403383.html