Advantages of U23 Vietnam
Over the past 10 years, U23 Vietnam has always been a familiar representative in the U23 Asian finals. In 2018, under Mr. Park Hang-seo, the "Golden Star Warriors" also won the runner-up position in the tournament. In the last two editions, U23 Vietnam has always reached the quarter-finals. This is a testament to the strength of the national youth team in the continent.
Thanks to good results over the past decade, it is not surprising that U23 Vietnam is ranked in the high seed group with the advantage of hosting a group of the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers.
The draw results put Van Khang and his teammates in Bangladesh, Singapore and Yemen. In terms of strength, these are not too strong opponents, which means that U23 Vietnam has the opportunity to top the group and win a ticket to the final round next year.
In this year's tournament, the U23 Vietnam force gathered faces with rich international competition experience and national professional tournaments in the past 2 years. Van Khang, Van Truong, Dinh Bac, Thai Son, Trung Kien, Ly Duc are pillars of V.League clubs and were given the opportunity to join the national team.
Cong Phuong, Thanh Nhan, Phi Hoang are also familiar names in the Vietnam youth teams from 2022 to present. Even rookie Tran Thanh Trung (Chung Nguyen Do) has played in more than 30 matches in the past 4 years, including U17, U19 and U21 Bulgaria. Remember, the European Youth qualifiers are much harsher than the Asian front.
22/24 current players of U23 Vietnam are Southeast Asian champions 1 month ago. More impressive is the fact that coach Kim Sang-sik and his team won all of their matches within the official time of each match. That is an achievement that after 20 years, the regional youth tournament has witnessed.
Opportunities and challenges
The Korean coach has the opportunity to strengthen the trust of fans. Previously, at the 2024 ASEAN Cup and the 2025 Southeast Asian U23, coach Kim Sang-sik helped the two Vietnamese teams win the regional championship. Now is the time for him to continue to affirm his ability at the Asian level.
The proof of that determination is that Mr. Kim focused all his efforts on developing a plan for U23 Vietnam. The squad framework has been prepared and selected over the past year. In addition, the colleagues working with coach Kim Sang-sik are also trustworthy people with professional capacity, understanding how to operate and being good at the ability to connect the team on the field and in daily life.
Thanks to that, Mr. Kim can wholeheartedly aim for the goal of winning 3 absolute victories with U23 Vietnam against Yemen, Bangladesh and Singapore.
Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho) is also a "sacred land" for all Vietnam national teams. Coach Kim Sang-sik once had the joy of leading the team in the journey to win the 2024 ASEAN Cup. Of course, this coach also expected the same thing when the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers entered the competition.
