Pre-match information
U23 Vietnam will face U23 Kuwait in the opening match of the ASIAD 2026 men's football event. Previously, the two teams had met once in the group stage of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, with victory belonging to U23 Vietnam. Le Nguyen Hoang is the only player in the current squad to have participated in that match.
U23 Kuwait has an early preparation for ASIAD 2026 under the guidance of Spanish coach David Doniga. They are in Japan nearly a week before the match day to adapt to the weather and living conditions.
U23 Kuwait used all 3 overage players, including midfielders Al-Asaimi, Al-Salama and striker Al-Mubailish. Among them, Al-Asaimi can take on both midfielder and striker roles and the other two players play in the front line.
Conversely, U23 Vietnam does not register overage players. The squad is mainly built from young players, including Ngoc My, Van Binh, Duc Anh, Phi Hoang, Quoc Cuong... These are faces who have played in regional and continental youth tournaments.
The team also does not have a full force of players of their age because some players have to perform duties at clubs or national teams. The gathering time before ASIAD is quite short as the players only have a few days to prepare before the match against Kuwait.
Previously, many U23 Vietnam members competed at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship and won bronze medals. This is the group of players chosen by coach Dinh Hong Vinh for this ASIAD campaign.
