According to the draw results on July 23, Group C gathers U23 Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Philippines and Kuwait. This is considered a highly competitive group when Uzbekistan is one of the strong teams in Central Asia, while the Philippines and Kuwait are both potential opponents.
The remaining three groups also witnessed many notable encounters. Group A includes host Japan, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan and Hong Kong (China). Group B includes China, UAE, Iran and North Korea. Meanwhile, Group D includes South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Before the draw, U23 Vietnam was ranked in the No. 1 seed group along with host Japan, China and South Korea thanks to their achievements at recent Asiad. Being in the highest seed group helped the coach and his team avoid the three strong opponents mentioned above right from the group stage.
The 2026 Asiad men's football event has 15 participating teams, divided into 4 groups, including one group of 3 teams. The teams will compete in a round-robin format to calculate points to select teams with good results to enter the knockout round.
According to the plan, men's football at Asiad 2026 will take place from September 15 to October 3 in Japan.
In women's football, the Vietnamese women's team is in Group E with host Japan, Taiwan (China) and Thailand. This is considered a challenging group when Japan is the leading candidate for the championship, while Taiwan (China) and Thailand are both familiar opponents of Vietnamese women's football in the region and continent.
