Ticket to the U17 World Cup
A year ago, U17 Vietnam with a generation of players born in 2008 did not pass the group stage but remained undefeated in the 2025 AFC U17 Championship finals when they drew with U17 Japan, U17 UAE and U17 Australia. A year later, the younger generation did better with two victories against U17 Yemen and U17 UAE, thereby reaching the quarter-finals of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship with the top spot in the group.
This achievement helps coach Cristiano Roland and his team win tickets to the U17 World Cup for the first time in history, affirming the right direction of the Vietnam Football Federation in the plan to nurture and develop young talents.
In addition to the above two wins, U17 Vietnam lost 1-4 to U17 Korea in the group stage and lost 0-3 to U17 Australia in the quarter-finals. Looking from a positive perspective, Mr. Roland's team maintained their attacking philosophy, boldly and confidently controlled the ball as well as created sharp attacks.
According to statistics from AFC, U17 Vietnam has a chance conversion rate of 17% - ranked 7th out of 15 teams participating in the tournament. In addition, the team also had 43 shots, reaching a pass accuracy rate of 75%. These two figures help U17 Vietnam be ranked in the middle group of teams competing at the continental youth tournament.
As coach Roland shared, U17 Vietnam does not have much time to prepare for the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals. Only 10 days after winning the U17 Southeast Asian Championship, the team went to Saudi Arabia to participate in the continental tournament.
In unfamiliar conditions of location, time zones differences, diet and weather, Sy Bach and his teammates still tried to play well against opponents such as U17 UAE, U17 Yemen, U17 Korea and U17 Australia.
With only about 10 days of training before entering the tournament, achieving such results is not easy at all. But I know, the whole of Vietnam is proud of you," Mr. Roland shared with the players in the dressing room.
Many lessons learned
Through the first continental tournament in his career, but Minh Thuy, Quy Vuong, Dang Khoa, Anh Hao... have had many valuable lessons. Coach Cristiano Roland himself also gained more training experience in his 2nd time leading U17 Vietnam to the AFC U17 Championship in Saudi Arabia.
It must be admitted that U17 Vietnam still has a level gap between the main squad and the reserve squad. This is also the reason why throughout 7 consecutive matches, Mr. Roland only used one starting lineup. Except for the victory against U17 Yemen when the reserve player Dau Quang Hung shone, in the remaining 3 matches, the substitutions in the second half of U17 Vietnam lacked breakthrough. This partly shows that the quality of the "secondary squad" needs to be further trained in the next stage, if U17 Vietnam wants to show themselves at the U17 World Cup.
The continental playground witnessed U17 Vietnam conceding 9 goals - the 2nd most in the tournament as of the quarter-finals. Remember, about half a month ago, Mr. Roland's team won the Southeast Asian championship with only 1 goal conceded, showing a difference in class in major arenas. This November, U17 Vietnam will participate in the World Cup - a tournament many times more difficult than Asia. If there is no good preparation, coach Roland and his students will face countless difficulties against Brazil, France, Argentina, Spain...
