Vietnam among 16 teams to qualify for 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup finals

Vietnam represents the first Southeast Asian team to win a ticket to the 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup finals after finishing Group C as winners.

The national team enjoyed an easy 6-0 win over Guam in their first match before then beating Yemen 1-0 in their second game.

On September 12, Vietnam ended their participation in the group stage by recording a 2-2 draw with Singapore.

Elsewhere, the other three Southeast Asian representatives to win tickets to the tournament in Qatar are Thailand as Group H winners, Indonesia as Group K winners, and Malaysia as the fourth best runner-up in the qualifying round.

This marks the fifth consecutive time that Vietnam have qualified for the final round of the AFC U23 Asian Cup, with their best result being when they finished as runners-up back in 2018.

At the 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup finals Vietnam are seeded in Pot 2 alongside Australia, the Republic of Korea and Iraq. 

Pot 1 see the presence of the hosts Qatar, defending champions Saudi Arabia, defending runners-up Uzbekistan and third-place Japan. Thailand, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait make Pot 3.

Pot 4 gathers Malaysia, Indonesia, Tajikistan and China.

The 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup’s final round is scheduled to take place in Qatar from April 15 to May 3 next year.

The tournament will be the sixth edition of the AFC U23 Asian Cup, previously known as the AFC U23 Championship before rebranding from 2021.

The biennial international championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia, with Saudi Arabia currently being the defending champions.

The tournament will act as AFC qualifiers for the 2024 Summer Olympics men’s football tournament, with the top three teams from the competition going on to qualify for the Olympics in France as the AFC representatives.