U.23 Vietnam conquers U.23 Asia 2026: When and where will the draw be held?

The Vietnam U.23 team's chances of going further in the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship will be directly related to the opponents that will be determined after the draw in Malaysia.

U.23 Vietnam has the desire to go deep in the 2026 U.23 Asian tournament

Photo: Minh Tu

U.23 Vietnam maintains form at U.23 Asian tournament

The Vietnam U23 team is one of the teams with the top achievements in the U23 Asian Cup. Three consecutive victories at Viet Tri Stadium in the qualifying round helped us participate in 6/7 of the highest youth tournaments in the continent.

Thanks to regular participation and stable performance, Vietnam has been promoted from the 3rd seed position - from 2022 and before - to the 2nd seed group from the 2024 AFC U23 Championship in Qatar.

Looking forward to the tournament in Saudi Arabia in January 2026, our achievements of reaching the quarter-finals twice and participating in the group stage once have helped us maintain our place in the second seed group when the AFC ranks the seeds based on achievements in 3 consecutive tournaments (2020, 2022 and 2024), instead of just the most recent tournament as before.

Van Truong is one of the captains of U.23 Vietnam.

Photo: Minh Tu

This will open up hope for U.23 Vietnam to meet favorable opponents in the group stage, avoiding the prospect of falling into the "death group", soon facing many big teams that will affect the ambition to enter the knockout round.

Expectations from the draw in Kuala Lumpur

It is expected that at 4 p.m. Vietnam time on October 2, AFC will conduct the draw for the final round of the 2026 AFC U-23 Championship, where U-23 Vietnam is in the second seed group with big names like South Korea, Australia and Qatar.

In addition to the number 1 seed group, besides the host country Saudi Arabia, there are also Uzbekistan, Japan and Iraq, so U.23 Vietnam will have an advantage over the number 3 seed group, which includes Thailand, Jordan, UAE and Iran. China is in the number 4 seed group with Syria, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.

Van Khang in an attack of U.23 Vietnam

Photo: Minh Tu

According to this draw, the most favorable scenario for U.23 Vietnam is being in the same group with Iraq (seed number 1), Thailand or Jordan/UAE (seed number 3) and China/Kyrgyzstan, who have more strength than the other heavyweights.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is expected to fly to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to attend the AFC draw ceremony, where he will have the opportunity to meet representatives of the 15 strongest U.23 teams in the continent at this time, and identify the 3 teams that will be in the same group with U.23 Vietnam.

Certainly, that moment will be the beginning of the ambition of Mr. Kim and his team to conquer the 2026 U.23 Asian Cup, with the initial goal of passing the group stage like in 2022 and 2024, before aiming for a higher goal with the 2018 final milestone of their predecessor Park Hang-seo.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-viet-nam-chinh-phuc-u23-chau-a-2026-boc-tham-khi-nao-o-dau-185250919210240094.htm