Draw for AFC U23 Championship: Vietnam U23 may be in the same group as Thailand and China

Specifically, the U23 Vietnam team is in the second seed group, with the U23 teams of Korea, Australia and Qatar. That also means that coach Kim Sang Sik's team will avoid these opponents in the group stage of the 2026 U23 Asian Cup.

Meanwhile, the number 1 seed group includes host team Saudi Arabia, defending champion Japan, defending runner-up Uzbekistan and former champion Iraq.

Group 3 includes the U23 teams of Thailand, Jordan, Iran and UAE. Group 4 includes the U23 teams of China, Syria, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.

With this seeding method, the easiest group that the U23 Vietnam team faces could include Iraq (theoretically the weakest team in the first seed group), Thailand (group 3) and Kyrgyzstan (group 4).

On the contrary, the most difficult group, in theory, that we can get into will include the defending champion Japan (group 1), Iran (group 3) and China (group 4). With this group, the U23 Vietnam team will have a very difficult time against teams from the Asian football powerhouses Japan and Iran.

Bốc thăm VCK U23 châu Á: U23 Việt Nam có thể cùng bảng Thái Lan, Trung Quốc - 2 — U23 Thailand (blue shirt) could be the opponent of U23 Vietnam at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship (Photo: FAT).

Therefore, the journey of the U23 Vietnam team in the final round of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship will depend largely on the draw results. If coach Kim Sang Sik's team falls into an easy group, for example, the group with the presence of Thailand and Kyrgyzstan, we can defeat these teams and pass the group stage.

On the contrary, if we fall into a difficult group with top teams in the continent, the chance of U23 Vietnam going further will be quite low.

The draw for the 2026 AFC U23 Championship will take place at 2 p.m. this afternoon at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 2026 AFC U23 Championship will take place from January 7 to January 25, 2026, in Saudi Arabia.