In the recent match, U17 Vietnam lost to U17 Korea with a score of 1-4. Coach Roland's team once created an advantage when leading for most of the time. However, the lack of concentration in the final minutes caused the Southeast Asian representative to continuously concede goals and could not keep points.
In the remaining match, U17 Yemen created a surprise when defeating U17 UAE 3-2. This result helped U17 Yemen rise up to directly compete with U17 Vietnam in the race to win a ticket to the quarterfinals.
After 2 matches, U17 South Korea temporarily leads Group C with 4 points. U17 Vietnam is ranked 2nd with 3 points, equal to U17 Yemen but ranked above thanks to head-to-head stats. Meanwhile, U17 UAE has only won 1 point and is in a difficult position before the final match.
Despite the defeat against U17 Korea, the opportunity to participate in the 2026 U17 World Cup with U17 Vietnam is still intact. Sy Bach and his teammates still have the right to decide, need a victory against U17 UAE in the final round to be sure of reaching the quarter-finals, and also participating in the world arena, regardless of the result of the remaining match.
In addition, a draw can also help U17 Vietnam advance if U17 Yemen cannot beat U17 Korea in the match at the same time. Conversely, if they lose to U17 UAE, the young Vietnamese team will be eliminated.
The group situation became even more tense after U17 Qatar was eliminated from another group. With U17 Qatar being the host of the U17 World Cup, the spot for the 3rd-placed team with the best results is no longer applied.
This forces teams to compete directly for the top two positions if they want to win the right to participate in the world playground.
