The tournament is organized by the Central Youth Union, the Central Vietnam Student Association assigned Thanh Nien Newspaper to coordinate with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).
This is an annual playground within the national competition system of VFF, taking place from the anniversary of the Traditional Day of Vietnamese Students (January 9) to celebrating the founding of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (March 26) and Vietnam Sports Day (March 27).
The opening ceremony was attended by leaders of the Vietnam Journalists Association, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, the Vietnam Football Federation, and the boards of directors of universities, academies, and colleges participating in the tournament.
Speaking at the ceremony, Head of the Organizing Committee Nguyen Ngoc Toan said that the Vietnam Youth Student Football Tournament is not only a sports playground but also aims to build a healthy competition environment, promote fair play spirit, disciplined organizational awareness and cheering culture among students.
This season there are 60 teams registered to participate. Of which, 59 teams compete in qualifying rounds in 4 regions including Hanoi, Central Coast, Southwest region and Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City region alone recorded the largest number of participating teams to date with 35 teams, competing for 6 tickets to the final round.
The final round of the 2026 Vietnam Student Youth Football Tournament is expected to take place in early March 2026, at Nha Trang University (Khanh Hoa).
Immediately after the opening ceremony, the first matches of the Ho Chi Minh City regional qualifying round started. In the group 1 opening match, Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Informatics (HUFLIT) won 2-0 against Vietnam Aviation Academy, creating a favorable start to this year's tournament.
