The Organizing Committee of the 20th Asian Games (ASIAD 2026) has announced the rules for the draw for men's and women's football. Accordingly, both the Vietnam U23 team and the Vietnamese women's team have identified the seed groups before the group stage draw ceremony taking place on July 23.
In the men's football event, 15 teams will be divided into 4 groups, including 3 groups with 4 teams and 1 group with 3 teams. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
Based on the achievements at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship Finals, U23 Vietnam is ranked in the No. 1 seed group with host Japan, China and South Korea. Meanwhile, the No. 2 seed group includes Uzbekistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar and the Philippines are in group No. 3, while Kuwait, Hong Kong (China) and North Korea are in group No. 4.
Participating in the highest seed group helps U23 Vietnam avoid facing Japan, China and South Korea right from the group stage, thereby opening up opportunities to have a more favorable draw result at the tournament.
In the women's football event, 12 teams are divided into 3 groups, each group has 4 teams. Six first and second place teams and two third place teams with the best results will qualify for the quarter-finals.
Based on the achievements at the 2026 Asian Women's Football Cup Finals, the Vietnamese women's team is ranked in the No. 3 seed group with Uzbekistan and Bangladesh. Host Japan, China and South Korea are present in the No. 1 seed group, while North Korea, Philippines and Taiwan (China) are in the No. 2 group. Myanmar, Thailand and Hong Kong (China) are ranked in the No. 4 seed group.
According to the regulations of the Organizing Committee, host Japan is defaulted to be at the top of Group A for men's football and at the top of Group E for women's football. The remaining teams will be divided into groups through a draw held on July 23.
Notably, Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan - Chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), Member of the Standing Committee of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Chairman of the AFC Competition Committee - was trusted by AFC to assume the position of Head of the Men's Football Organizing Committee at ASIAD 2026.
ASIAD 2026 will take place in Aichi and Nagoya (Japan) from September 19 to October 4. 2026. The football sport gathers many top teams in the continent, promising fierce competition in both men's and women's categories. For Vietnamese football, this is one of the important arenas in the international competition plan for 2026.
