Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian representative to achieve this at ASIAD 20

Only Vietnam is competing in both men's and women's football categories at ASIAD 2026 within Southeast Asia.

As reported, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have officially finalized the format and number of teams for the football tournament at ASIAD 2026, held in Japan. The allocation of spots based on recent continental competition results has created a strong filtering process, resulting in few Southeast Asian teams meeting the participation criteria.

In the men's football category, ASIAD 2026 features 16 teams that earned qualification for the 2026 AFC U-23 Championship finals. Under this criterion, only Vietnam and Thailand from Southeast Asia qualify for the event. At the tournament held in Saudi Arabia, the Vietnam U23 team impressively secured third place overall, thereby affirming their leading regional status and securing their spot in the Asian Games football competition.

Meanwhile, the women's football selection follows a similar system, where the 12 teams participating in the 2026 Women's Asian Cup will directly qualify for ASIAD. Accordingly, only Vietnam and the Philippines from Southeast Asia meet this requirement.

Notably, Vietnam is the sole Southeast Asian team to have representation in both men's and women's football at ASIAD 2026. Thailand only participates in the men's event, while the Philippines qualifies solely for the women's category.

Complete presence on this major continental stage not only signifies sporting achievement but also reflects the depth of training programs, long-term investment plans, and synchronized development strategies for both men's and women's football in Vietnam in recent years.

According to plans, for men's football, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) will send the U21 Vietnam team to participate in ASIAD 2026 instead of the U23 team, aiming to provide competitive experience and development opportunities for the next generation of players. Conversely, the Vietnam women's national team will represent the country at the Asian Games, continuing to uphold the responsibility of asserting Vietnam women's football status on the continental stage.