U17 Vietnam suffered a 1-4 defeat to U17 Korea in the 2nd match of Group C of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship Finals. Although Sy Bach helped his team take the lead early, the East Asian representative reversed the situation with 4 consecutive goals in the last 10 minutes of the match.
This result makes the situation in Group C unpredictable before the final match, because in the match at the same time, U17 Yemen surprised by defeating U17 UAE with a score of 3-2.
Thus, after 2 matches, U17 Korea is temporarily leading with 4 points, while U17 Vietnam and U17 Yemen have 3 points each. Thanks to better head-to-head record, U17 Vietnam is ranked 2nd and U17 Yemen is ranked 3rd. U17 UAE only has 1 point and is at the bottom of the table.
Despite just experiencing a heavy defeat, the opportunity to advance for coach Cristiano Roland's team is still intact. In the last match, U17 Vietnam will meet U17 UAE, and U17 Korea will face U17 Yemen.
The most favorable scenario is that U17 Vietnam defeats U17 UAE. At that time, the "Golden Star Warriors" will definitely win one of the top two positions in the group, which means winning a ticket to the quarter-finals and winning the right to participate in the 2026 U17 World Cup.
In case of a draw against U17 UAE, U17 Vietnam still has a chance to advance if U17 Korea does not lose to U17 Yemen. At that time, Sy Bach and his teammates will be second in the group thanks to being better than U17 UAE in points.
In addition to the possibility of winning a direct ticket, U17 Vietnam can hope for a spot for the 3rd-placed team with good results (provided that U17 Qatar reaches the quarter-finals).
If U17 UAE draws and U17 Yemen wins against U17 Korea, U17 Vietnam is likely to rank 3rd with 3 points and a goal difference enough to compete with the remaining groups (excluding points with the bottom-ranked team - because Group D only has 3 teams).
Even in the scenario of defeat against U17 UAE, the opportunity is not completely closed for U17 Vietnam if U17 Korea defeats U17 Yemen.
However, at that time, U17 Vietnam will have to wait to compare goal difference with other 3rd-placed teams, making the situation much more difficult.
