U17 Vietnam and Malaysia in the 2026 AFC U17 qualifiers

VHO - On the afternoon of August 7, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held a draw ceremony for the 2026 AFC U17 Qualifiers. The results put the Vietnam U17 team in Group C with familiar opponents including U17 Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Northern Mariana Islands and Macau (China).

This is considered a moderate group, at the same time creating a favorable opportunity for U17 Vietnam to nurture the hope of winning a ticket to the Final Round, thereby getting closer to the goal of participating in the FIFA U17 World Cup 2026.

The 2026 AFC U17 Qualifiers will feature 38 teams, divided into 7 groups (including 3 groups of 6 teams and 4 groups of 5 teams). The teams will compete in a round robin to determine the top 7 teams from each group to enter the Final Round.

In addition, 9 teams with direct entry privileges include the host country of the final round, Saudi Arabia, the host of the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup, Qatar, and 8 teams entering the quarterfinals of the 2025 U17 Asia: Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, North Korea, Tajikistan, Japan, UAE and Indonesia.

The qualifying round is scheduled to take place from November 22 to 30, 2025. The final round is scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia in May 2026, where the top 8 teams will qualify to represent Asia at the U17 World Cup.

Towards this goal, the Vietnam U17 team will gather at the end of October with the core force being players with outstanding performance at the 2025 National U17 tournament.

The Vietnam U17 team will have careful preparation for the tournament.

The team is also scheduled to train in Japan to improve their physical strength, tactics and get used to the intensity of international competition. Previously, at the international friendly tournament in China in June, coach Cristiano Roland's students had an impressive performance: defeating U17 Saudi Arabia 2-1, drawing with host China 2-2 and only losing 1-2 to U17 Australia.

A notable point is that AFC has awarded the right to host the group stage to Vietnam, giving U17 Vietnam a big advantage in terms of stadium, fans and travel conditions. Playing at home is expected to be an important mental boost for coach Cristiano Roland and his team in their journey to win tickets to the finals and realize their World Cup dream.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/u17-viet-nam-cung-bang-malaysia-o-vong-loai-u17-chau-a-2026-159423.html