The draw for the group stage of the ASIAD 2026 men's football event will take place on July 23rd in Japan. Before the groups were determined, U23 Vietnam was assessed to have a significant advantage in the race for seed position thanks to their outstanding achievements at the AFC U23 Championship.
Coach Kim Sang-sik's team just won third place at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals. This result helps U23 Vietnam be rated higher than many teams in the region, and also has the opportunity to be ranked in the better seed group when the organizers conduct grouping.
The list of 16 teams participating in men's football has also been completed after some changes. Australia decided not to send a team to ASIAD 2026, thereby the match spot was transferred to U23 Hong Kong (China). In addition, U23 India also withdrew due to not meeting the criteria of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of this country, creating conditions for U23 Philippines to participate.
U23 Philippines winning a ticket helps Southeast Asia have 3 representatives at the tournament including U23 Vietnam, U23 Thailand and U23 Philippines. In this group, U23 Vietnam is the team with the best international achievements in recent times.
According to the plan of the Vietnam Football Federation, the force participating in ASIAD will take the core from the U21 generation to aim for long-term preparation. However, the coaching staff is still considering adding some experienced U23 players to support younger players in the competition process.
Because at the same time as the Vietnamese national team participating in the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026, coach Kim Sang-sik will focus on the national team. The task of leading U23 Vietnam at ASIAD 2026 is expected to be assigned to assistant coach Dinh Hong Vinh.
ASIAD 2026 takes place from September 19 to October 4 in Aichi and Nagoya (Japan).
