On the afternoon of March 6, the Association of Southeast Asian Football (AFF) held a draw ceremony for the group stage of the 2026 U17 Southeast Asian Championship. The result brought the Vietnam U17 team into Group A with U17 Indonesia, U17 Malaysia and U17 Timor-Leste.
This is considered a highly competitive group when U17 Vietnam has to face two familiar opponents in the region, U17 Indonesia and U17 Malaysia. In which, U17 Indonesia has the home advantage, while U17 Malaysia is always considered a direct opponent of Vietnamese youth football in regional tournaments.
The presence of three teams with relatively balanced levels makes Group A predicted to be tense and unpredictable. With strict competition formats, each match in the group stage is important in the race to win tickets to the next round.
In the remaining groups, Group B includes U17 Thailand, U17 Laos, U17 Myanmar and U17 Philippines. Group C has the participation of U17 Australia, U17 Cambodia, U17 Singapore and U17 Brunei.
According to the tournament format, teams compete in a round-robin format to calculate points and rank. The top three teams in each group and a second-placed team with the best results will qualify for the semi-finals.
The 2026 Southeast Asian U17 Championship is scheduled to take place from April 11 to 23 in Indonesia. The matches are held at two stadiums Gelora Joko Samudro (Gresik) and Gelora Delta (Sidoarjo).
Besides the meaning of a regional playground, the tournament is also considered an important preparation step for the teams towards the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals, expected to take place in May in Saudi Arabia. This is an opportunity for teams to improve their forces, test their squads and accumulate international competition experience for young players.
According to the plan, the Vietnam U17 team is expected to gather again in early April to prepare for the 2026 Southeast Asian U17 Championship as well as the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals.
