By defeating South Korea U23, Vietnam U23 set several historical milestones.

TPO - Besides securing third place at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship, the victory against South Korea U23 also helped Vietnam U23 achieve many memorable milestones in history.

In the third-place match of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, Vietnam U23 were just seconds away from victory in regular time. Despite conceding a 2-2 equalizer to South Korea U23, coach Kim Sang-sik's team bravely held on despite being down a man, ultimately defeating their opponents 7-6 in the penalty shootout.

Thus, the Vietnam U23 team made history by winning against the South Korea U23 team for the first time after 9 encounters (6 official matches and 3 friendly matches), with a record of 3 draws and 6 losses. If only considering official matches, the Vietnam U23 team previously lost 0-2 in the group stage of the 2006 Asian Games, also 0-2 in the 2012 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, twice lost 1-2 in the 2017 AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the 2018 AFC U23 Asian Cup group stage, and 1-3 in the 2018 Asian Games semi-finals. The only draw (1-1) was in the group stage of the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup.

Furthermore, this is also the first time Vietnamese teams have won the third-place match at a continental tournament, following the 2-4 defeat of the Vietnam U16 team against Japan U16 at the 2000 AFC U16 Championship and the penalty shootout loss to UAE at the 2018 Asian Games for the Vietnam Olympic team.

The victory against U23 South Korea was also the 11th win (including penalties) for U23 Vietnam across 6 appearances in the AFC U23 Asian Championship. This number far surpasses the combined total of all Southeast Asian teams that have participated in the tournament, which is only 7 wins (Thailand 3, Indonesia 3, Malaysia 1, Myanmar 0), once again emphasizing Vietnam's leading role in the continental youth tournament.

Also at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, coach Kim Sang-sik's team scored a total of 10 goals in 6 matches, surpassing the 8 goals scored by coach Park Hang-seo's team in the 2018 Changzhou tournament, thus setting a new record for the number of goals scored by Vietnamese football in continental competitions.

Finally, after winning a Bronze medal at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship and a Silver medal in 2018, Vietnam U23 is the sixth Asian team to have won at least two medals, after Japan U23, Uzbekistan U23, Saudi Arabia U23, South Korea U23, and Iraq U23. In Southeast Asia, besides Vietnam U23, only Indonesia U23 has ever reached the top four, but lost in the third-place match.

Watch the entire 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship Finals on TV360 at https://tv360.vn. Enjoy a smooth multi-platform experience, rewind and replay, and free Viettel 4G/5G data.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/vuot-qua-u23-han-quoc-u23-viet-nam-thiet-lap-nhieu-cot-moc-lich-su-post1815373.tpo