The opening match against U17 Yemen in Group C of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship is considered a big challenge for U17 Vietnam, directly affecting the chances of coach Cristiano Roland's team to advance.
U17 Yemen enters the tournament with specific goals. The leaders of the West Asian team have repeatedly affirmed their ambition to repeat the achievement of winning the right to participate in the U17 World Cup like the 2002 generation. This team possesses many players who are capable of creating breakthroughs and maintaining high ball speed in transition situations.
In fact, U17 Yemen is not an easy opponent for Vietnamese youth football. In the most recent meeting in the U17 Asian Cup qualifiers, the two teams drew 1-1. Previously, U17 Vietnam also lost to this opponent in a friendly match.
Recent encounters show that the West Asian representative always creates many difficulties thanks to their physical foundation and direct attack deployment.
In this year's AFC U17 Championship qualifiers, U17 Yemen impressed when they won all 5 matches. In addition to scoring many goals, they also showed the ability to organize counter-attacks quite effectively. Many players can push high to support attacks from the second line, creating diversity in approaching the opponent's goal.
However, this team also has some problems before the opening day. The preparation process of U17 Yemen is quite short due to many objective reasons, and they cannot add 6 young players playing in Saudi Arabia as initially planned.
Recent friendly matches of U17 Yemen have also not brought positive signals, most recently the 1-2 defeat to U17 Uzbekistan in a practice match.
In the opposite direction, U17 Vietnam is showing clear progress under coach Cristiano Roland. "Young Golden Star Warriors" have won all matches in the U17 Asian Cup qualifiers with 30 goals and no goals conceded. Recently, U17 Vietnam just won the U17 Southeast Asian Championship 2026.
Compared to last year's tournament, U17 Vietnam currently has a change in playing style and approach to the match. Coach Roland prioritizes maintaining pressure and controlling the game. The Brazilian coach wants the players to continue to attack even when they have an advantage.
In recent training sessions, the coaching staff focused heavily on the ability to switch states, support defense and handle final situations. Finishing efficiency is also content that has been adjusted to improve the ability to take advantage of opportunities.
Coach Cristiano Roland said that the whole team understands the value of the opening match. He repeatedly reiterated the lessons from the previous tournament, when U17 Vietnam drew all three matches but was still eliminated. Therefore, the goal this time is not only to play well but also to aim for victory.
In the context that U17 Korea and U17 UAE are considered very strong, the confrontation with U17 Yemen is of pivotal significance. A positive result will help U17 Vietnam create a great advantage in the competition for tickets to the 2026 U17 World Cup.
When there are still strong opponents ahead such as U17 Korea and U17 UAE, the clash with U17 Yemen is considered an important opportunity for U17 Vietnam to create a point advantage.
If they have a favorable start, Sy Bach and his teammates will have more basis to compete for a ticket to the knockout round, thereby completing the goal of participating in the 2026 U17 World Cup.
The match between U17 Vietnam and U17 Yemen takes place at 0:00 on May 7.
