Vietnam to host 2026 AFC U23 Championship

U23 Vietnam has the advantage of playing at home at the 2026 U23 Asian Cup. Photo: VFF

Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan - President of Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) - chaired the meeting in his capacity as Member of the Standing Committee, Head of AFC Competition Committee.

The 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers will feature 44 teams, divided into 11 groups of four teams each. Matches will be played in a round-robin format at each host city from September 1 to September 9, 2025. The 11 group winners and four best runners-up will qualify for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, along with hosts Saudi Arabia, who will be automatically seeded.

Besides the group of U23 Vietnam held at home, 10 other countries were also awarded the right to host 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 the AFC headquarters. With the achievement of reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, the Vietnam U23 team is placed in the No. 1 seed group, along with Japan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Indonesia, South Korea, Qatar, China, Tajikistan and Kuwait, thereby creating more favorable conditions for the goal of participating in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Finals.

In preparation for the 2026 AFC U23 Qualifiers, the U22 team will continue to receive the opportunity to gather and train at the same time as the national team's FIFA Days. Most recently, the team had a very high-quality "test" at the U22 CFA Team China 2025 international tournament, held last March with the participation of U23 Korea, U23 Uzbekistan and U23 China.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/viet-nam-lam-chu-nha-giai-u23-chau-a-2026-700938.html