Draw for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals: Vietnam U23 team falls into a difficult group

In this group, it is easy to see that the candidate for the first ticket to the next round is definitely Saudi Arabia. In addition to the advantage of being the host, Saudi Arabia is also considered to have a higher level and class than the opponents in the same group.

The young Saudi Arabian players are well-trained, have good physique, good stamina, and a disciplined, tight playing style. No opponent in the group stage will be able to stop Saudi Arabia's determination and desire on the journey to gradually realize the goal of repeating the previous achievement of 2022.

Vietnam U23 players have the best preparation for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Finals. Photo : VFF

As for U23 Jordan, they won third place in 2013 and reached the quarter-finals twice in 2016 and 2020, so it will also be a big challenge for U23 Vietnam.

As for the rookie U23 Kyrgyzstan, although participating in the final round for the first time, they are an interesting and unpredictable "unknown". The fact that they won the ticket to the final round as the first team in the qualifying round is quite a surprise, so experts believe that Kyrgyzstan is likely to become a "dark horse" in the group stage.

Meanwhile, the U23 Vietnam team has passed the qualifying round with 3 wins (defeating Bangladesh 2-0, beating Singapore 1-0 and defeating Yemen 1-0), to be present in the final round for the 6th consecutive time, so they are ranked as the 2nd seed in the tournament. That proves that the team of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team is highly appreciated.

The U23 Vietnam players have a relatively even level of skill, a collective playing style, cohesive, not too dependent on any individual, along with a highly determined fighting spirit under the guidance of the strategist from the land of kimchi, have achieved impressive achievements in recent times, the most recent of which is the U23 Southeast Asian Championship.

The U23 Vietnam players have the necessary stability - an important factor to be able to confidently compete for the ticket to the next round with the two remaining opponents, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan. The issue that experts remind the students of Mr. Kim Sang-sik is that they need to be extremely focused when facing these two opponents, cherishing every point to gain an advantage in the race for the second ticket of the group to the next round.

As for the fans, they are quite assured about the extremely thorough preparation of U23 Vietnam for the goal of passing the group stage. Specifically, the young players have gathered and prepared to go to the UAE for training, and there will be two quality friendly matches with U23 Qatar on October 9 and October 13. In addition, the conquest of the SEA Games 33 championship at the end of this year is also considered an important step before the 2026 U23 Asian Finals.

Thus, it can be said that Group A is full of challenges, but with careful preparation and a high spirit of determination, U23 Vietnam is completely capable of entering the knockout round, responding to the expectations of fans.

Draw results for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals. Screenshot

The 2026 AFC U23 Championship will take place from January 6 to January 24, 2026, in Saudi Arabia, with the participation of 16 teams, divided into 4 groups. Specifically, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan (Group A); defending champions Japan, Qatar, UAE, Syria (Group B); Uzbekistan, South Korea, Iran, Lebanon (Group C) and Iraq, Australia, Thailand, China (Group D).

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/the-thao/202510/boc-tham-chia-bang-vong-chung-ket-u23-chau-a-2026-tuyen-u23-viet-nam-roi-vao-bang-kho-c5c0599/