Coach Kim Sang-sik once wished U23 Vietnam would meet U23 Korea in the final. However, that did not materialize. U23 Vietnam lost to U23 China 0-3 in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, U23 Korea lost 0-1 to U23 Japan.
The two teams will meet in the third-place match, and U23 Japan and U23 China will enter the final to compete for the championship. U23 Vietnam will not have the strongest squad when center-back Ly Duc is suspended. In addition, center-back Hieu Minh will also not play after suffering a very serious injury in the semi-finals.
In addition to losses in force, U23 Vietnam also has a history of unfavorable confrontations against the Korean team. Statistics from Korean media show that the Korean team has not lost to U23/U22 Vietnam in 9 previous encounters, with a record of 6 wins and 3 draws.
In the group stage of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, U23 Vietnam lost to U23 Korea 1-2, right in the opening match. In the 2022 tournament, U23 Vietnam drew with U23 Korea 1-1 also in the group stage.
In 2025, the two teams met in two matches, both in friendly tournaments. In March 2025, U22 South Korea drew with U22 Vietnam 1-1. By November 2025, U22 South Korea defeated U22 Vietnam 1-0 at the Panda Cup in China, with a single goal from Kim Myung-jun.
Before the third-place match, the performance of the two teams was different. U23 Vietnam had 4 wins, 1 loss, scored 8 goals and conceded 7 goals. U23 Korea won 2 matches, drew 1 match, lost 2 matches, scored 6 goals, conceded 6 goals.
According to Korean media, with coach Lee Min-sung facing another wave of criticism after the defeat to U23 Japan, a victory against U23 Vietnam is extremely important. According to them, U23 Vietnam will play very determinedly against U23 Korea - an opponent they have never defeated before.
The 3rd place match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Korea takes place at 10:00 PM on January 23.
In history, the Vietnamese men's football team with the core being U23 players won against Korea 1-0, on October 19, 2003, at the 2004 Asian Cup qualifiers. At that time, the Korean team was highly rated, when the squad had up to 6 players who had reached the 2002 World Cup semi-finals. The only goal of the Vietnamese team at that time was scored by Van Quyen, after Tuan Phong's pass.
