Emotional artists and elite warriors
In 2018, Vietnamese fans were overwhelmed by emotions after Quang Hai's "rainbow" super products in the semi-final match against U23 Qatar and the final against U23 Uzbekistan. In Mr. Park Hang-seo's generation of players that year, besides Quang Hai, the remaining positions such as goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung, defender Vu Van Thanh also brought unforgettable moments.
In 2018, U23 Vietnam was rated lower than most opponents, from the group stage to the final. The reason is that before the tournament took place, Mr. Park held in his hands a squad that had just suffered a humiliating defeat at the 2017 SEA Games and had only gone through the M150 Cup friendly tournament. Each victory that year brought the emotion of a milestone. There were many super goals, lucky penalties won and the ending was not complete.
In 2026, when Mr. Kim Sang-sik led the Vietnam U23 team to participate in the AFC U23 Championship, the baggage in hand was a series of good achievements from the beginning of 2025 of Vietnamese football: ASEAN Cup championship, U23 Southeast Asian championship, SEA Games 33 gold medal. The current generation of players has accompanied Mr. Kim throughout those tournaments, being known by fans, and forming a methodical and skillful playing style.
When entering the journey of Group A at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, facing teams that are considered stronger such as U23 Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the playing style of the current generation of players does not choose the "underdog" way and wait for moments like in 2018. That is a confident playing style of control, daring to attack and compete in one-on-one matches that is not inferior to the opponent.
U23 Vietnam version 2026 also has modernity and is very "Western" in playing style such as set-piece arrangements and quick, low-touch counter-attacks. The goals in this year's tournament are not the first time fans have witnessed them, they have taken place in a series of tournaments since the beginning of 2025.
Squad depth
In 2018, the generation of players remembered throughout Mr. Park's era were all starting players at U23 Changzhou. Those reserve players that year such as Thai Quy, Van Dai, Van Hoang, Ngoc Quang,... were not remembered as much as Quang Hai, Tien Dung, Cong Phuong,... In the knockout matches in that year's tournament, Mr. Park also almost used an unchanged squad.
In 2026, according to the habit formed from the tournaments in 2025, Mr. Kim always made the media "satisfied" when predicting the starting lineups of the Vietnamese national teams. In the victory over U23 Saudi Arabia, even Dinh Bac and Thanh Nhan - the heroes of SEA Games 33 were also on the bench, showing the great depth of the squad that U23 Vietnam possesses. Besides, young stars like Van Thuan or Le Phat are also often rotated between starting and reserve, creating unpredictability.
This also shows that the playing style of U23 in 2026 has been operated smoothly with all players in the registered squad.
Every generation of players has heroes.
Dinh Bac's super finish against U23 Saudi Arabia or Quang Hai's "snow rainbow" against U23 Uzbekistan are all super goals, reaching world-class level, these players themselves cannot always do it.
Or like in the goal, how excellent Tien Dung in 2018 is, Trung Kien in 2026 is also similar. They all blocked countless dangerous balls of the opponent, in matches that were pressed to the point of suffocation.
On the journey to conquer glory or achieve new milestones, U23 Vietnam always has heroes who shine like that. In a cup tournament, teams always need stars who know how to create such moments to aim for glory.
U23 Vietnam in 2018 has reached the final and fans expect the current 2026 generation of players to at least reach that stage.
