The Vietnam U23 team has many advantages to win a ticket to the 2026 Asian finals - Photo: VFF
Today (April 30), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially announced that Vietnam will be one of 11 countries hosting the qualifying rounds for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.
This decision was made at a meeting of the AFC Competition Committee. Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan - President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) - chaired the meeting in his capacity as a member of the Standing Committee and head of the AFC Competition Committee.
The 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers will feature 44 teams, divided into 11 groups. Matches will be played in a round-robin format at each host venue from September 1 to 9, 2025.
The 11 group winners and the four best runners-up will qualify for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, along with hosts Saudi Arabia, who have been given a wildcard.
Besides Vietnam, 10 other countries were also awarded hosting rights by AFC including Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Qatar, Tajikistan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
As planned, the draw ceremony will take place on May 29 at AFC headquarters.
With the achievement of reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, the Vietnam U23 team is ranked in the No. 1 seed group with Japan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Indonesia, South Korea, Qatar, China, Tajikistan and Kuwait, thereby creating more favorable conditions to aim for the goal of participating in the final round.
In preparation for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, the Vietnam U22 team will continue to receive support from the VFF and coach Kim Sang Sik to gather and train at the same time as the national team's upcoming FIFA Days. The first is the FIFA Days in June.
Most recently, the Vietnam U22 team had a very high-quality "test" at the CFA Team China 2025 International U22 Tournament, held last March in Yancheng.
The Vietnam U22 team at that time ranked 3rd out of 4 teams with 3 unbeaten matches, earning 3 points. The two leading positions were China U22 (5 points) and South Korea U22 (4 points). Uzbekistan U23 ranked last with 2 points.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/u23-viet-nam-da-vong-loai-chau-a-tren-san-nha-20250430212809204.htm
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