U17 Vietnam vs U17 Singapore: A Favorable Start (7:00 PM, November 22, live on FPT Play for the U17 Asian qualifiers)

22/11/2025 07:48:00 PANDATV

The U17 Vietnam squad has a great opportunity to start strongly in the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers, enjoying home field advantage and facing U17 Singapore, who are not highly regarded.

The 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers feature 38 teams split into 7 groups (3 groups of 6 teams and 4 groups of 5 teams). Only the winners of each group secure a spot in the final tournament. Additionally, 9 teams are granted automatic entry into the finals: host Saudi Arabia, FIFA U17 World Cup 2026 host Qatar, and the quarter-finalists of the 2025 U17 Asian Cup: Uzbekistan, South Korea, North Korea, Tajikistan, Japan, UAE, and Indonesia.

The qualifiers will take place from November 22 to 30, 2025. The final tournament will be held in Saudi Arabia in May 2026, where the top 8 teams from Asia will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup 2026.

Group C of the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers consists of 6 teams: Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Northern Mariana Islands, and Macao (China). Among these, Hong Kong has only participated once in the finals, back in 2014. Their second attempt to advance begins with the opening match against Macao, hoping to earn their first points in the qualifiers, scheduled for 4:00 PM on November 22 at Field 3, VFF Youth Football Training Center.

The Northern Mariana Islands team is also aiming for their first points in their sixth qualifier appearance and will start their campaign at 7:00 PM at the VFF stadium against Malaysia, who are targeting their seventh finals appearance. Simultaneously, U17 Vietnam will kick off at PVF stadium, aiming for their tenth finals appearance and fifth consecutive one, facing U17 Singapore, whose last participation was in 2008.

To prepare for the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers, the U17 Vietnam team recently completed a training camp in Japan. Photo: VFF

In preparation for the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers, U17 Vietnam held a training camp in Japan, playing three friendly matches: a 2-0 victory over U18 Imabari (the youth team of J-League 2 club Imabari), a 1-1 draw with Matsuyama University, and a 1-2 defeat against U18 Ehime (the affiliate team of Ehime FC, J-League 2).

These matches helped the players gain international experience, test tactical approaches, and enhance physical fitness ahead of the qualifiers. Hosting U17 Singapore will serve as a test of the progress the U17 Vietnam players have made throughout their training period, both domestically and internationally.

The U17 Singapore team also prepared for the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers with two overseas training camps in September and November 2025. The young Lions participated in the Lion Cup from July 8 to 13 and had a short training trip to Bangkok (Thailand) in June.

However, the biggest challenge for U17 Singapore is their inability to gather their strongest squad due to scheduling conflicts affecting some players. Only those who attended all training sessions and preparations were selected for the 2026 U17 Asian qualifiers squad.

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