U23 Vietnam is ranked in the No. 1 seed group at the ASIAD 2026 men's football draw. This result is determined based on the achievements of U23 Vietnam at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, thereby creating a significant advantage before breaking up into groups.
Notably, U23 Vietnam (likely to be named Olympic Vietnam according to the tournament regulations) also participates in the highest seed group with Japan, South Korea and China. This means that they will not have to face the above 3 teams in the group stage, thereby increasing the chance of falling into a more favorable group.
In addition, the No. 2 seed group includes Uzbekistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar and the Philippines are in group No. 3, while Kuwait, Hong Kong (China) and North Korea are in the bottom group.
The ASIAD 2026 men's football event has 15 participating teams. The organizers divide the teams into 4 groups, including three groups of 4 teams and one group of 3 teams. After a round-robin match, the top two teams in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
In the history of participating in the Asian Games, the most outstanding achievement of Vietnamese men's football is reaching the semi-finals of ASIAD 2018. At that time, the team stopped against South Korea with a score of 1-3. Therefore, having an advantage from the draw is the basis for U23 Vietnam to aim for the goal of re-establishing or improving achievements at this year's Games.
In the women's category, the Vietnamese women's team is ranked in the No. 3 seed group with Uzbekistan and Bangladesh thanks to the results at the 2026 Women's Asian Cup. The remaining three groups are Japan, China, South Korea; DPRK, Philippines, Chinese Taipei; Myanmar, Thailand, Hong Kong (China).
Unlike the men's content, there are 12 women's football teams, divided into 3 groups, each group of 4 teams. After the group stage, the top two teams in each group and the two teams ranked 3rd with the best results will participate in the quarterfinals. According to regulations, host Japan is arranged in Group A in the men's content and Group E in the women's content.
The draw for the group stage of the ASIAD 20 men's and women's football events will take place at 11:00 AM today (July 23).
