On the morning of May 21, FIFA announced the seed grouping list for the U17 World Cup 2026 draw. However, the name U17 Vietnam did not appear in the group of Asian representatives participating in the tournament, although the team officially won a ticket to Qatar after their achievements at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals.
Instead, FIFA put U17 Yemen on the list, even though the West Asian team once lost to U17 Vietnam at the Asian tournament. In addition, U17 China was also confused when it was replaced by U17 Indonesia in the sub-group list posted on FIFA's official website.
Regarding this incident, VFF said that in official technical documents and press releases sent by FIFA to member federations, the list of teams participating in the 2026 U17 World Cup is still fully and accurately shown, including U17 Vietnam.
However, in the seed grouping information of Asian representatives on FIFA's homepage, the name U17 Vietnam did not appear. VFF said that the federation's functional departments have contacted FIFA to request inspection, correction of errors and updating information on the official media system.
According to the seed classification announced by FIFA, U17 Vietnam is in group No. 4. The 2026 U17 World Cup will take place in Qatar next November with 48 participating teams, divided into 12 groups. The top two teams in each group and 8 third-placed teams with the best results will qualify for the round of 16.
