2026 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers: Vietnam Team Has a Wide Open Door to Advance

After a 2-star victory on the opening day of the tournament, U23 Vietnam temporarily leads Group C with 3 points.

Entering the second match of Group C of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, host Vietnam will welcome U23 Singapore at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho) at 7:00 p.m. on September 6 (FPT Play). Coach Kim Sang-sik's team has a good chance of winning a ticket to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals if they defeat U23 Singapore.

Improve scoring

U23 Vietnam is considered the top candidate in Group C, but the performance against Bangladesh in the opening match did not really satisfy the audience. The South Asian team was weaker than coach Kim Sang-sik's team in every aspect, but the home team missed too many opportunities and only scored 2 goals.

Preparing for this group stage, the Korean strategist kept the core of the Vietnam U23 team that just won the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. The young "golden star warriors" showed their fluency in the ball deployment, coordinating diverse attacks against the team that was not considered strong.

Dominating the opponent in terms of ball control and number of shots on goal, the home team only had 5 out of more than 10 shots on target. If the opening goal in the 14th minute came from a good combination between Dinh Bac and Ngoc My, Viktor Le's goal that sealed the final score in the 83rd minute demonstrated the ability to successfully take advantage of set-piece situations that had been carefully honed by U23 Vietnam.

"We created many scoring opportunities but the goalkeeper and defenders of U23 Bangladesh played with concentration and defended firmly. In addition, the strikers of U23 Vietnam were also unlucky when many shots hit the post and crossbar of the opponent's goal. The victory is a positive start but we will improve our shortcomings and focus on preparing for the upcoming match" - Coach Kim Sang-sik shared.

If they continue to beat U23 Singapore, U23 Vietnam will move one step closer to the final round, although the team still has a decisive match against U23 Yemen in the last round.

U23 Vietnam aims for the second win in Group C. Photo: VFF

Vietnam team is no longer afraid of "air combat"

In the history of confrontation between the two football teams, Vietnamese football used to be disappointed when losing to Singaporean players in terms of physical strength. However, since 2018, Vietnamese players have improved their physical condition, increased their average height and have become stronger in "air combat".

In recent years, Singapore's national teams have repeatedly been "defeated" by Vietnam. At the U23 level, the team from the Lion Island has not won against Vietnam since 2019, and they even lost to U23 Vietnam 7-0 in February 2022.

Recently, Singapore football has not received much investment. The thin force also caused the country's football federation to decide not to participate in the recent 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. On the opening day of Group C of the 2026 Asian U23 qualifiers, Singapore also did not play well and lost 1-2 to Yemen due to defensive mistakes.

Therefore, experts believe that U23 Vietnam will win with a large margin against U23 Singapore to firmly hold the top position in Group C.

The Singapore U23 team brought to Vietnam 24 players, mostly U20 players, many of whom are playing in the S-League. Notably, there is Japanese-born defender Junki Yoshimura, a player for the Albirex Niigata Singapore Club.

Before the 2026 AFC U23 qualifiers, Singapore underwent a training trip in Portugal and also achieved positive results in recent friendly matches, when they drew with U23 Philippines and won against U23 Malaysia.

Coach Firdaus Kassim must think that the defeat against Yemen was just a stumble, not reflecting the true ability of his students.

"The home team has many players with high professional quality and that is also the model that young Singaporean players are aiming for. We hope to learn many things from this tournament" - Singapore U23 coach Firdaus Kassim expressed.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/vong-loai-u23-chau-a-2026-tuyen-viet-nam-rong-cua-di-tiep-196250905221908006.htm