According to the draw results, U23 Vietnam fell into group A, facing U23 Jordan, U23 Kyrgyzstan and host Saudi Arabia. This is a group that is considered "easy" for coach Kim Sang Sik and his team, because besides the host U23 Saudi Arabia being slightly better, U23 Jordan and U23 Kyrgyzstan are quite equal in ability.

In Southeast Asia, the remaining representative, U23 Thailand, fell into a very difficult group, meeting U23 Iraq, U23 Australia and U23 China.

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U23 Vietnam fell into an "easy" group.

According to the competition format, the 16 teams participating in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship are divided into 4 groups. The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals. The final match is scheduled to take place on January 25, 2026.

Vietnam U23 won a ticket to the final round after defeating Bangladesh 2-0, Singapore 1-0 and Yemen 1-0, winning the top spot in the group with 9 absolute points. This is the sixth consecutive time Vietnam U23 has participated in the AFC U23 Championship.

2026 AFC U23 Championship draw results

Group A: Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan

Group B: Japan, Qatar, UAE, Syria

Group C: Uzbekistan, South Korea, Iran, Lebanon

Group D: Iraq, Australia, Thailand, China

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u23-viet-nam-vao-bang-dau-de-tho-tai-vck-u23-chau-a-2026-2448396.html