The tournament is organized by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Student Association assigned to Thanh Nien Newspaper, in coordination with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF). Not only is it a grassroots sports tournament, the Vietnam Student Youth Football Tournament is identified as a gathering place for the youth spirit, passion for football and aspirations of Vietnamese students.
The Vietnamese Student Football Tournament takes place in the period from 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). Notably, the tournament has been officially included in the annual national competition system of VFF, thereby affirming its increasingly important position in student sports life.
The 2026 season recorded the participation of 60 universities, colleges and academies nationwide. Except for the host team of the final round, Nha Trang University, the remaining 59 teams will compete in the qualifying round, taking place from January 9 to 27, 2026, divided into 4 regions to select 11 teams to enter the final round.
The Northern region (Group A) has 12 teams, competing from January 12 to 20, 2026 at the campus of Thuy Loi University (Hanoi). The teams are divided into 3 groups, competing in a round-robin format, selecting 3 first teams of each group to qualify for the final round.
The Central Coast region (Group B) includes 4 teams, competing in a single round-robin from January 18 to 22, 2026 at Military Zone 5 Stadium (Da Nang). The top team will win a ticket to the final round.
The Ho Chi Minh City area (Group C) has the largest number of teams with 35 participating teams. The teams compete from January 9 to 27, 2026 at Ton Duc Thang University stadium and Tao Dan stadium. 35 teams are divided into 9 groups, selecting 9 first-place teams, along with 2 second-place teams with the best results and the second-place team in the Southwest region to enter the play-off round to select 6 slots for the final round.
Meanwhile, the Southwest region (Group D) has 8 teams, competing from January 15 to 22, 2026 at the stadium of Dong Thap University. The top two teams will play in the regional final; the winning team wins a direct ticket, the losing team continues to compete for play-off tickets with the representative of Ho Chi Minh City region.
The final round of the 2026 Vietnam Student Youth Football Tournament is expected to take place from March 7 to 22 at the stadium of Nha Trang University (Khanh Hoa). The prize structure is maintained at a high level, with 300 million VND for the champion team, 150 million VND for the runner-up team, 70 million VND for each third-place team and 40 million VND for the style tournament. After the final round, the second International Student Youth Football Tournament will continue to be held.
