On May 29, the Southeast Asian Football Federation conducted the draw for the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship. According to the format, 10 teams were divided into 3 seed groups based on their performance in last year's tournament.

Draw results for the 2023 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship. Photo: VFF

Accordingly, seed group number 1 includes U23 Vietnam (reigning champion), U23 Thailand (reigning runner-up) and U23 Timor Leste (third place). Seed group number 2 includes U23 Cambodia, U23 Malaysia and U23 Philippines. Seed group number 3 includes U23 Brunei, U23 Indonesia, U23 Laos and U23 Myanmar.

According to the draw results, the U23 Vietnam team is in Group C with U23 Philippines and U23 Laos. Host U23 Thailand is in Group A with U23 Cambodia, U23 Brunei and U23 Myanmar. Meanwhile, Group B will be a competition between U23 Timor Leste, U23 Malaysia and U23 Indonesia.

The U23 Vietnam team will participate in the tournament with the main players being the U20 age group. According to the plan, U23 Vietnam will meet U23 Laos on August 20 and U23 Philippines on August 22 in the group stage.

The 2023 AFF U23 Championship will take place from August 17 to 26 in Thailand. The teams will compete in a round-robin format to determine rankings, with the three group winners and the best second-placed team advancing to the semi-finals.

HOAI PHUONG