Recently, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) posted a video recording the training session of U23 Vietnam and accompanied it with a caption in Vietnamese: "U23 Vietnam and the final round of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship: no joke!".
This shows that AFC appreciates the preparation as well as the competitive potential of coach Kim Sang-sik's team at the upcoming continental tournament.
Not stopping there, AFC also posted a deep article introducing the teams participating in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals. Notably, U23 Vietnam is classified as a group of candidates capable of competing for the championship.
This is a group that usually only includes top football nations in the continent such as Japan, South Korea or Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, many other teams in the region are only considered to be "able to go far" or "set goals to make a mark".
AFC putting the Southeast Asian team in the group with the potential to win the championship reflects recognition of the achievements, stability and progress of U23 Vietnam in recent years.
In the process of promoting the tournament, AFC also recalled the impressive journey of U23 Vietnam at the 2018 tournament, when the team under coach Park Hang-seo reached the final and won the runner-up position.
The match against U23 Uzbekistan continues to be shared as a memorable milestone in the history of the tournament.
According to the schedule, the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals will take place from January 6 to January 24 in Saudi Arabia. U23 Vietnam will play the opening match against U23 Jordan in Group A.
