U23 Vietnam and U23 China will meet in the semi-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, after both successively overcame challenges named U23 UAE and U23 Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals.
China U23's ticket to the next round is somewhat more difficult when facing Uzbekistan U23. The two teams struggled for more than 120 minutes of play but still did not score, forced to decide the winner on penalties.
Here, U23 China won 4-2 against U23 Uzbekistan and qualified for the semi-finals.
In the remaining bracket, U23 Vietnam soon registered their name in the top 4 strongest teams after a 3-2 victory over U23 UAE. Le Phat, Dinh Bac and Minh Phuc were the players who scored, bringing positive results for coach Kim Sang-sik's team.
Regarding head-to-head history, most recently, U23 Vietnam and U23 China faced each other at the Panda Cup 2025 friendly tournament in November. At that time, the "Golden Star Warriors" won 1-0 thanks to Minh Phuc's late goal.
In total, U23 Vietnam and U23 China have met 8 times at the U23 level, including friendly matches. The achievement is quite balanced when each team has 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats. However, if only considering official matches, the advantage still leans towards U23 China with 2 victories in the 2000 Olympic qualifiers.
The reunion in the semi-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship will be of great significance, deciding the ticket to the final for the two teams.
The match between U23 Vietnam and U23 China takes place at 10:30 PM on January 20.
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.
