Attending the opening ceremony were Mr. Nguyen Hong Minh - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Sports Administration; Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hoi - Standing Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF); Mr. Nguyen Van Phu - VFF Secretary General, Head of the Organizing Committee; Mr. Nguyen Minh Chau - VFF Deputy Secretary General; Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan - Member of the VFF Refereeing Committee and representatives of accompanying units.
Speaking at the ceremony, VFF General Secretary Nguyen Van Phu affirmed that youth football plays an important role in the long-term development strategy of Vietnamese football. According to him, the National U21 team is a playground for young players to accumulate experience, improve their expertise and create a foundation towards a professional football environment as well as national team levels.
Representatives of the Organizing Committee also expressed their expectation that, with careful preparation in terms of organization and expertise, along with the honest and determined fighting spirit of the teams, the tournament will bring many attractive matches, contributing to improving the quality of the national youth tournament system.
The 2026 National U21 Championship final round gathers 12 teams, divided into 3 groups. The teams compete in a round-robin format to calculate points, selecting 8 teams to enter the quarterfinals, including 3 top teams, 3 second-placed teams and 2 third-placed teams with the best results.
The tournament is expected to continue to be an important launching pad for young players before stepping onto the professional arena and contributing human resources to national teams in the future.
