The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has just announced the refereeing team to officiate the 3rd place match of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship between U23 Vietnam and U23 Korea, taking place at 10 pm on January 23.
Accordingly, the Kuwaiti referee - Abdullah Al Jamali will officiate the match. This "king of black" has been recognized by FIFA since 2019, and is currently considered one of the most prestigious referees in Asia.
In recent years, Mr. Al Jamali has frequently appeared in important matches such as the AFC Champions League, Asian Cup or the Asian regional World Cup qualifiers.
With Vietnamese youth football, Mr. Abdullah Al Jamali is not a strange name. In March 2023, the referee born in 1992 officiated the decisive match of Group B of the AFC U20 Championship between U20 Vietnam and U20 Iran. At that time, Vietnam lost 1-3 to the opponent and missed the opportunity to advance.
In the upcoming 3rd place match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Korea, two assistant referees supporting Mr. Al Jamali are Ali T. H. A. Jraq (Kuwait) and Nasser Salim Abdullah Ambusaidi (Oman).
The fourth referee is Mr. Alexander George King - the "king in black" who just officiated the semi-final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 China (January 20).
VAR work is also tightly arranged by AFC. UAE referee Mohammed Obaid Khadim Mohammed takes on the main VAR role, while Mr. Sivakorn Pu-Udom (Thailand) is the VAR assistant.
