Live draw for the AFC U23 Asian Cup Finals: U23 Vietnam identifies their opponents

At 2:00 PM on October 2nd, the group stage draw for the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup Finals is scheduled to be held at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

>> Follow the draw results here <<

According to the seeding, the U23 Vietnam team is placed in Pot 2 alongside U23 South Korea, U23 Australia, and U23 Qatar. This means Coach Kim Sang Sik’s squad will avoid facing these three strong teams in the group stage.

Ideally, U23 Vietnam would be drawn in a group with Iraq (Pot 1), Jordan (Pot 3), and Kyrgyzstan (Pot 4). This group is considered relatively easier for Khuất Văn Khang and his teammates. However, they could also end up in a “group of death” with Japan, Iran, and Syria, making qualification to the quarter-finals much more challenging.

According to the tournament format, the 16 teams at the finals will be divided into 4 groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals. The final match is expected to take place on January 25, 2026.

Seeding pots for the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup Finals:

Pot 1: Saudi Arabia (host), Uzbekistan (rank 1), Japan (rank 2), Iraq (rank 3).

Pot 2: South Korea (rank 5), Vietnam (rank 6), Australia (rank 7), Qatar (rank 8).

Pot 3: Thailand (rank 9), Jordan (rank 10), UAE (rank 11), Iran (rank 12).

Pot 4: China (rank 13), Syria (rank 14), Kyrgyzstan (rank 15), Lebanon (rank 16).

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