SEA Games 33: Easy for U22, difficult for Vietnam women's team

sea games 33 - Ảnh 1. — U22 Vietnam celebrates victory at SEA Games 32 - Photo: NK

But the defending champion - the Vietnamese women's team - was not so lucky! Because the draw results put the Vietnamese girls in the "death" group B with two championship candidates: the Philippines, Myanmar and Malaysia.

U22 Vietnam will not have difficulty getting a ticket to the semi-finals

The U22 Vietnam team is in Group B with U22 Malaysia and U22 Laos. Host Thailand is in a very easy Group A with U22 Cambodia and U22 Timor Leste. Only the defending champion U22 Indonesia is in trouble because they are in the "death" Group C with 4 teams: U22 Myanmar, U22 Philippines and U22 Singapore.

According to the regulations, the 3 group winners and the second-placed team with the best record will enter the semi-finals. With their strength, the U22 Vietnam team can completely win the top spot in Group B. Because the biggest rival that can compete for a ticket to the semi-finals, U22 Malaysia, is no longer as strong as before. Most recently, this young Malaysian team was eliminated right from the group stage of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship and could not pass the 2026 Asian U23 qualifiers - two tournaments that U22 Vietnam just won and won a ticket to the final round.

Laos U22 is an experienced team, with many players currently playing for the national team in the ASEAN Cup 2024 as well as the final qualifying round of the current Asian Cup 2027. However, in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, coach Kim Sang Sik's team defeated the young Lao players 3-0 in the group stage.

Prepare carefully for the HCV target

The real challenge for the U22 Vietnam team will be from the semi-finals when they start facing really strong opponents. U22 Indonesia, U22 Philippines or U22 Myanmar, if they make it to the semi-finals, will show that they will not be easily defeated.

Not to mention, if they reach the final, coach Kim Sang Sik's team will face even more difficulties. Because most likely, U22 Thailand will reach the final. With home field advantage and formidable strength, Thailand itself does not hesitate to set the goal of winning all 4 gold medals in football.

But U22 Vietnam also has confidence in itself. Preparing for the 33rd SEA Games as well as the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, young Vietnamese players have been sent by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to train and compete internationally continuously since 2024 to gain experience and improve their skills.

Most recently, young Vietnamese players had a training trip to the UAE during FIFA Days in October and had two quality friendly matches with U23 Qatar. Next November, the U22 Vietnam team will also participate in the 2025 International Friendly Tournament in China with U22 Uzbekistan, U22 Korea and the host team.

sea games 33 - Ảnh 2. — It will be very difficult for the Vietnamese women's team to defend the SEA Games 33 gold medal - Photo: NGOC LE

Challenges for the Vietnamese women's team

Unlike U22 Vietnam, the Vietnamese women's team needs to make double the effort in the "group of death" to get past the group stage. Since calling on Filipino players from strong women's football countries in the world to return in 2022, the Philippine women's team has become a formidable force. In the two most recent encounters, the Vietnamese women's team lost to the Philippines 0-4 in the semi-finals of the 2022 Southeast Asian Women's Championship and 1-2 in the group stage of the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is also gradually coming back. At the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship in Vietnam in August, the Myanmar women's team excellently won the runner-up position after only losing narrowly to the Australian U23 women's team 0-1 in the final match. Before that, the Myanmar girls beat the Australian U23 women's team 2-1, drew 1-1 with the Philippines in the group stage and defeated Thailand 2-1 in the semi-finals. That is clearly a big warning for the Vietnamese women's team at the upcoming 33rd SEA Games.

However, with two tickets per group to the semi-finals, coach Mai Duc Chung and his team can still compete for the ticket to the next round if it is clear that the Philippines or Myanmar will be the main opponents. Another important thing is that the Vietnamese women's team must try to win the top spot in Group B to avoid meeting the host Thailand early in the semi-finals. Because against weak opponents Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia, Thailand will certainly win the top spot in Group A.

The goal of the Vietnamese women's team at SEA Games 33 is to win the championship.

Chance to win gold medal in women's futsal

In futsal, the Vietnamese women's futsal team (ranked 11th in the world) is in Group B with Myanmar and Indonesia. Group A includes Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. After the first 2-1 victory over Thailand (ranked 4th) in the final match to win the 2024 Southeast Asian Championship, the Vietnamese women's futsal team is confident of winning the first SEA Games gold medal in history.

Since there are only 5 teams participating in the men's tournament, the Vietnamese futsal team (ranked 26th in the world) will compete in a round robin with Thailand (ranked 11th), Indonesia (ranked 23rd), Myanmar and Malaysia to determine the champion.

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sea-games-33-de-cho-u22-kho-cho-doi-tuyen-nu-viet-nam-20251020105902631.htm