U23 Vietnam and Thailand to attend 2026 AFC U23 Championship in Saudi Arabia

(NLDO) - With all wins in the qualifying round, U23 Vietnam and Thailand will represent Southeast Asia to participate in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals held in Saudi Arabia.

The Vietnam U23 team impressively earned 9 points after 3 qualifying matches to secure a spot in the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship finals, finishing first in Group C. While also finishing first in their group, Thailand U23's performance was less impressive than Vietnam's, with 2 wins and 1 draw in their 3 matches.

Thanh Nhàn scored a goal, helping Vietnam U23 achieve a perfect record in the qualifying round.

With this result, Vietnam and Thailand are the two teams representing Southeast Asia to compete in Saudi Arabia for the "championship" of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship. Football powerhouses in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and Malaysia will miss out on this tournament.

At the end of the qualifying round, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines were the second-placed teams in their respective groups, but their performance was not among the top four second-placed teams, so they were eliminated in the qualifying round.

Vietnam U23

...and the list of 16 teams participating in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

Besides host nation Saudi Arabia, 15 teams qualified for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, including 11 group winners: Jordan, Japan, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Iraq, Qatar, Iran, South Korea, and Syria, and 4 group runners-up: China, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship is scheduled to be held from January 7 to 25, 2026.

The teams are divided into four groups, playing a round-robin format to determine rankings. The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals. This tournament does not count towards Olympic qualification (for men's football).

Source: https://nld.com.vn/doi-tuyen-u23-viet-nam-cung-thai-lan-tham-du-vck-u23-chau-a-2026-19625091010532018.htm