On the evening of April 24, U17 Vietnam won a convincing 3-0 victory over U17 Malaysia in the final of the 2026 Southeast Asian U17 Championship, thereby officially winning the championship. This is the fourth time the Vietnamese youth team has won the regional arena, the most in the history of the tournament.
Previously, U17 Vietnam had won championships in 2006, 2010 and 2017. The new achievement helped the team overcome direct competitors such as U17 Australia and U17 Thailand (both 3 times champion), affirming its leading position in the region at the U17 level.
The journey to the throne of coach Cristiano Roland's team is considered convincing. In the group stage, U17 Vietnam heavily defeated U17 Malaysia 4-0 and U17 Timor Leste 10-0. In the semi-finals, the team made an impression with a 2-1 comeback victory over defending champion U17 Australia. In the final, U17 Vietnam continued to overcome U17 Malaysia with a score of 3-0 to complete the campaign successfully.
Not only champion, U17 Vietnam also maintains an impressive streak of form under coach Cristiano Roland. According to statistics at official tournaments, the team is unbeaten in 16 consecutive matches, including 10 wins and 6 draws, scoring 55 goals and conceding only 5 goals. In just 3 encounters with U17 Malaysia in the U17 Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers and the U17 Southeast Asian Championship 2026, U17 Vietnam won all matches and scored a total of 11 goals.
Previously, at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship qualifiers, U17 Vietnam also showed outstanding form when winning all 5 matches, scoring 30 goals and not conceding any goals. At the 2026 AFC U17 Championship, the team continued to maintain stability with an unbeaten record after 5 matches (4 wins, 1 draw), scoring 19 goals and conceding only 1 goal. This is one of the outstanding achievements of Vietnamese youth football in recent years.
After the regional championship, U17 Vietnam will aim for the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals taking place in May with the goal of competing for a place in the quarterfinals, thereby nurturing hopes of winning a ticket to the 2026 U17 World Cup. At this tournament, coach Cristiano Roland and his team are in the same group with opponents U17 Korea, U17 UAE and U17 Yemen.
