According to the plan, U23 Vietnam will gather again on March 17 in Hanoi. This is the first gathering of the team after the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, and also coincides with the FIFA Days in March of the national team.
Because head coach Kim Sang-sik is on duty with the Vietnamese national team, assistant coach Dinh Hong Vinh continues to be assigned the role of acting head coach of the Vietnam U23 team. Over the past time, Mr. Vinh has also directly accompanied the U22 and U23 youth teams in international training and competition sessions.
In this gathering, the coaching staff aims to build a successor force for the national team, in the context that many key players of U23 are overage or have been called up to the Vietnamese national team. In the immediate future, the team will review and evaluate the force to prepare for men's football at the 2026 Asian Games, expected to take place in September, with the core being players born from 2005 to 2007.
The list of 30 players called up includes many faces who grew up from previous youth teams such as goalkeeper Pham Dinh Hai, Cao Van Binh; midfielders Nguyen Cong Phuong, Le Van Thuan; striker Nguyen Le Phat. In addition, some players who participated for the first time were also given opportunities such as Nguyen Quoc Toan, Nguyen Anh Tuan (PVF-CAND), Tran Hai Anh (Quang Ninh), Nguyen Trong Son (Bac Ninh), Ta Xuan Truong (TTTT II Ninh Binh) and Vu Quoc Anh (Hai Phong).
According to the plan, U23 Vietnam will train in Hanoi from March 17. It is expected that on March 23, the coaching staff will shorten the list to 25 players before heading to China to participate in the CFA Team China 2026 tournament, taking place in Xi'an city from March 25 to March 31.
This year's tournament has the participation of 4 teams including U23 China (host), U23 Vietnam, U23 Thailand and U23 Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The teams compete in a round-robin format to determine the overall ranking.
According to the schedule, U23 Vietnam will successively meet U23 Democratic People's Republic of Korea on March 25, face U23 Thailand on March 28 and face host U23 China in the final match on March 31.
