On the night of January 12, the Vietnam U23 team won 1-0 against Saudi Arabia U23 in the last group stage match of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.
This result helped Dinh Bac and his teammates win tickets to the quarter-finals with the top spot in Group A after 3 consecutive wins. Previously, the "Golden Star Warriors" had defeated U23 Jordan 2-0 and U23 Kyrgyzstan 2-1.
In the match at the same time, U23 Jordan also defeated U23 Kyrgyzstan with a score of 1-0, thereby recording their name in the quarterfinals as the runner-up of Group A. The West Asian team closed the group stage with 6 points, including 2 wins and 1 loss against U23 Vietnam itself.
Although they are the host of the tournament, U23 Saudi Arabia has gone through disappointing matches. They struggled to defeat U23 Kyrgyzstan 2-1, then lost 2 consecutive matches to U23 Jordan and U23 Vietnam. They stopped in the group stage with 3rd place in Group A.
Finally, U23 Kyrgyzstan. This team lost all 3 matches in their first participation in the AFC U23 Championship finals.
