U23 Vietnam will have a fierce tournament in Qatar next year

"Southeast Asia has 4 teams participating in the 2024 AFC U23 Championship finals: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. According to the draw results, our feeling is that Vietnam U23 is in a group that is considered quite easy, when meeting Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Malaysia.

Among these opponents, Vietnamese football has met Uzbekistan and Malaysia at many levels. These are opponents with many predestined relationships. Notably, U23 Vietnam met Uzbekistan in the final match of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou (China).

In that match, after the two teams drew 1-1 in 90 minutes of official play, Uzbekistan scored in extra time to win the match. As for Malaysia, the last time at SEA Games 32, Vietnam won 2-1 in the group stage.

This is the first tournament that Vietnamese football has gotten used to the new playing style of coach Philippe Troussier. Meanwhile, Vietnam has not met Kuwait at the youth level. This is an opponent that we must study carefully," commentator Quang Huy commented on the results of the draw for the 2024 AFC U23 Championship finals.

U23 Việt Nam sẽ có giải đấu khốc liệt ở Qatar năm sau - 1 — U23 Vietnam is in the same group with Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Malaysia (Photo: Do Minh Quan).

At the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, the top three teams will qualify directly for the 2024 Paris Olympics as Asia’s representatives. Meanwhile, the fourth-placed team will play a play-off match with the fourth-placed African U23 team to compete for a wildcard ticket to the Olympics in France next year.

Commentator Quang Huy believes that with the nature of competing for tickets to the 2024 Olympics, the upcoming tournament for the U23 team will be very fierce.

"The teams are all well-prepared and have high ambitions, creating a fierce competition. With U23 Vietnam, we won the runner-up position in 2018 but have never participated in the Olympics," said commentator Quang Huy.

In the qualifying round, U23 Vietnam under the guidance of coach Troussier won the top position in Group C with 7 points. Accordingly, U23 Vietnam won Guam (6-0), Yemen (1-0) before drawing Singapore (2-2) in a match that was just a formality because they had already secured the top position.

Having a good record in the qualifying round, however, the final round is a completely different story. Although the preparation time for U23 Vietnam is still long, from now until April next year, when the tournament is held in Qatar, young Vietnamese players need to be given the opportunity to play regularly in the V-League, in addition to the two matches of the national team against Indonesia in March 2024.

Previously, after receiving the draw results, coach Philippe Troussier showed respect for the opponents in the same group, and believed that U23 Vietnam would play well at the 2024 U23 Asian Cup finals.

"For me, each group and each match brings its own challenges. We all know that this AFC U23 Championship final is special for the teams in general and me personally, because the tournament is also a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Regarding the three opponents in the same group with U23 Vietnam, Uzbekistan is theoretically considered the strongest team because they have often achieved good results in youth tournaments at the continental level in recent years.

I think Kuwait and Malaysia will be direct competitors for the ticket to pass the group stage with U23 Vietnam. But as I said, no match will be easy because they also have the same dream as us, which is to go as far as possible and have a place in Paris 2024," coach Philippe Troussier assessed.

U23 Việt Nam sẽ có giải đấu khốc liệt ở Qatar năm sau - 2 — Coach Philippe Troussier is confident of achieving good results at the 2024 AFC U23 Championship finals (Photo: Tien Tuan).

"The group of U23 Vietnam players have been with me for a long time over the past 9 months, accumulating battle experience in many different tournaments, both at the national team and youth team levels. Some individuals have even been used in the last two FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, which are inherently difficult and high pressure.

With such continuous preparation and accumulation, I believe the players have the confidence and a certain foundation to be ready to face the upcoming challenges. We still need to continue to improve to be fully ready to face the top opponents in the continent," affirmed coach Philippe Troussier.

The 2024 AFC U23 Championship will take place from April 15 to May 3, 2024, with four selected locations: Al Khor, Lusail, Al Rayyan and Doha (Qatar). These are all locations where matches took place in the 2022 World Cup finals.

This is the 5th time U23 Vietnam has participated in the U23 Asian finals. Vietnam's best achievement in this tournament was winning the runner-up position in Changzhou (China) in 2018, under coach Park Hang Seo.