Vietnam face tough rivals at AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers

Coached by Park Hang-seo, Vietnam are grouped together with Thailand, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Australia, and the Republic of Korea.

Elsewhere, the second seed group comprises the U23 teams of Japan, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Singapore.

Forty-six teams, divided into four seed groups in the eastern and western regions, are scheduled to take part in the qualifying round, due to take place between October 23 and October 31.

According to the schedule, 11 group winners and four second-placed teams from the qualifiers will compete in the final round in Uzbekistan slated between September 6 and September 25, 2022.

The AFC devise the seed groups based on the achievements of the national teams during the 2020 AFC U23 Asian Cup. Last year saw Vietnam lead group K in the qualifiers with nine points, although they couldn’t progress to the finals.

At present, the national U23 team are gathering in Hanoi in order to prepare for the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the qualifiers for the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup.