In the opening match of Group A at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Jordan 2-0. Two goals of U23 Vietnam were scored by Dinh Bac and Hieu Minh. This result helped coach Kim Sang-sik's team get the first 3 points, opening up a great opportunity to win a ticket to the next round.
The Jordanian Olympic team faced difficulties in the opening match of the Asian Cup," Jordan's Khaberni newspaper shared. This is a hard-to-swallow defeat for U23 Jordan because they received very high expectations from before the tournament started.
U23 Jordan scored 19 goals in the qualifiers, owning striker Odeh Al-Fakhouri, who scored 5 goals in the qualifiers, currently playing for the national team. However, the West Asian team played very passively against U23 Vietnam.
Khuat Van Khang and his teammates showed superiority in ball handling, coordination in set pieces, as well as solid defense.
Meanwhile, Assabeel newspaper admitted that the 0-2 defeat to U23 Vietnam was a disappointing result for U23 Jordan. According to them, U23 Jordan lost to U23 Vietnam in a surprising way, when they conceded 2 goals in the first half. In the second half, U23 Jordan tried to attack and control the ball more, but did not create clear opportunities.
According to Jordanian media, U23 Jordan will have to try their best in the remaining two matches against U23 Saudi Arabia and U23 Kyrgyzstan, to have a chance to win the right to enter the quarterfinals.
For coach Kim Sang-sik, the victory over Jordan further helped him consolidate his record with U23 Vietnam. In the qualifiers, U23 Vietnam was one of the best teams when they won all matches and did not concede any goals.
In the next match taking place on January 9, U23 Vietnam will face U23 Kyrgyzstan, and U23 Jordan will face the host U23 Saudi Arabia.
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