U23 Vietnam had a favorable start at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship with a 2-0 victory over U23 Jordan. This is a scenario that not many people thought of, especially when the opponent possesses a quality squad and stable form throughout the past year.
However, U23 Vietnam showed reasonable tactics, making good use of fixed coordination situations to score goals, with goals from Dinh Bac and Hieu Minh.
This result helps the "Golden Star Warriors" have more motivation and confidence when entering the 2nd match against U23 Kyrgyzstan. This team is less fortunate when losing narrowly 0-1 to U23 Saudi Arabia in the opening match.
Notably, despite playing with one less player from the 35th minute, K23 Kyrgyzstan still held out well, pushing the home team into a deadlock. It was not until the last minutes of the match that Kyrgyzstan conceded a goal.
Although limited continental playing experience as a newcomer to the tournament, it does not mean that U23 Kyrgyzstan will easily let Mr. Kim Sang-sik's team take 3 points. Remember, in the recent qualifying round, U23 Kyrgyzstan even drew with the defending runner-up U23 Uzbekistan.
The preparation journey of U23 Kyrgyzstan was also quite impressive. They tried their hand at U23 Bahrain, U21 Russia, U23 Iran and U23 China. As a result, they defeated Iran and Bahrain with the same score of 2-1.
U23 Vietnam is not allowed to be subjective when facing this opponent. If they want to get 3 points to compete for the top spot in the group, Dinh Bac and his teammates need to cherish the opportunity to seek an advantage against Kyrgyzstan.
The match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Kyrgyzstan will take place at 9:00 PM on January 9, 2026.
Watch the full match of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Finals on TV360 at https://tv360.vn . Smooth experience on multi-platform, replay - review, free 4G/5G Viettel data.
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