Vietnam National Team unexpectedly gains an additional chance to participate in the Youth World Cup

The Vietnam U17 squad currently has a great chance to maintain their hopes of competing in the Youth World Cup, even under the scenario of not qualifying directly at the 2026 U17 Asian Cup.

Not only the top 2 qualify

The 2026 U17 Asian Championship final tournament will take place from May 5 to May 22 in Saudi Arabia, and it also serves as the qualifying event for the 2026 U17 World Cup. According to the usual format, the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals and secure their spots at the global stage.

However, a notable point this year is that U17 Qatar has already qualified for the World Cup as the host nation. If the West Asian team reaches the quarterfinals of the Asian Championship, an additional spot will be given to the best third-placed team in the group stage.

This regulation opens an extra "backdoor" allowing Vietnam U17 to still compete even if they fail to finish in the top two of their group.

A challenging journey

According to the schedule, Coach Cristiano Roland’s team will start their campaign by facing U17 Yemen early morning on May 7 (Vietnam time). Then, they will consecutively face U17 South Korea and U17 UAE in the remaining two matches.

This group is considered tough. U17 South Korea is well-known for their strong youth tradition in the continent, U17 Yemen has previously reached the Asian Championship final, and U17 UAE is the opponent that last time prevented Vietnam from reaching the World Cup.

In the previous edition, Vietnam U17 came very close to the goal by drawing all three group matches, but only earned 3 points and finished third.

This time, with the new AFC mechanism, finishing third no longer means total elimination. If they accumulate enough points and favorable goal difference, Coach Roland’s team can still continue to pursue their Youth World Cup dream.