On the afternoon of July 25, the last two quarter-final matches of the National U17 Football Tournament - Red Dragon Cup 2026 took place, thereby determining that the remaining two tickets to the semi-finals belonged to U17 Hanoi and U17 PVF.
At Pleiku Arena, U17 Hanoi entered the game proactively against U17 PVF-CAND when continuously pushing up the squad to put pressure. With the dynamism of Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc, the Capital team created many dangerous opportunities but encountered the opponent's disciplined defense.
U17 PVF-CAND, with a main force of players born in 2010, played resiliently and kept a clean sheet for most of the match. However, in the 60th minute, U17 Hanoi found the decisive goal. From Chu Ngoc Nguyen Luc's corner kick, Nguyen Khac Minh Duc jumped high to head the ball into goalkeeper Gia Bao's net, scoring the only goal of the match.
In the remaining time, U17 PVF-CAND tried to push up the squad to find an equalizer but could not penetrate the well-organized defense of U17 Hanoi. The 1-0 victory helped the Capital team write their name into the semi-finals.
In the remaining quarter-final match at Ham Rong Stadium, U17 Song Lam Nghe An and U17 PVF created an exciting match with a tight match for most of the match time.
The turning point came in the 76th minute when Minh Thuy crossed favorably for Viet Duy to finish close range, putting U17 Song Lam Nghe An ahead. However, U17 PVF did not give up and increased pressure in the final minutes.
In the third minute of injury time of the second half, from a corner kick on the right wing, captain Nguyen Huynh Dang Khoa jumped high to head the ball into the net, helping U17 PVF equalize 1-1 and bring the match to a penalty shootout.
From the 11m spot, U17 PVF showed bravery when successfully executing all 4 shots, while U17 Song Lam Nghe An missed 2 shots. The team of PVF Youth Football Training Center won 4-2 in the penalty shootout to win the last ticket to the semi-finals.
Thus, the 4 teams participating in the semi-finals of the National U17 Football Tournament - Red Dragon Cup 2026 include U17 Hue, U17 Da Nang, U17 Hanoi and U17 PVF. According to the schedule, U17 Hue will meet U17 Da Nang, while U17 Hanoi will face U17 PVF to compete for a place in the final.
