U23 Vietnam in seed group number 1 in the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially announced the seed groups for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, with Vietnam U23 seeded No. 1 thanks to its two consecutive quarter-final appearances.

Vietnam U23 (red shirt) is in the number 1 seed group of the 2026 AFC U23 qualifiers thanks to their achievement of reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament for two consecutive times - Photo: AFC

The 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers have 44 participating teams, divided into 11 groups and competing in a round-robin format at the venue from September 1 to 9.

After the qualifying round, the 11 group winners and the 4 teams with the best results will qualify for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship. The tournament will take place in Saudi Arabia - the host team U23 Saudi Arabia will be given a special entry, without having to play in the qualifying round.

On May 5, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially announced the seeding groups for the 2026 AFC U23 qualifiers based on the scoring system approved by the AFC.

Accordingly, U23 Vietnam is ranked in the number 1 seed group with the achievement of reaching the quarter-finals of the U23 Asian finals twice in a row in 2022 and 2024.

At this year's tournament, U23 Vietnam will also be the host of the qualifying round with the expected stadium being Viet Tri, Phu Tho .

In Southeast Asia, the number 1 seed group also includes Thailand, while Indonesia and Malaysia are seeded number 2.

List of 4 seed groups for the 2026 AFC U23 qualifiers:

Group 1: Uzbekistan, Japan, Iraq, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia, Qatar, Thailand, Jordan, Tajikistan, UAE.

Group 2: Indonesia, Kuwait, Iran, Turkmenistan, Malaysia, China, Bahrain, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Cambodia.

Group 3: Myanmar, Oman, Singapore, Kyrgyzstan, India, Lebanon, Laos, Timor Leste, Taipei (China), Philippines, Hong Kong.

Group 4: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Pakistan, Macau, Nepal, Brunei, Bhutan, Northern Mariana Islands.

11 U23 teams are the hosts of the qualifying round, including: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Qatar, Tajikistan, Thailand, UAE and Vietnam.

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HOANG TUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/u23-viet-nam-o-nhom-hat-giong-so-1-tai-vong-loai-u23-chau-a-2026-20250505095607188.htm