The Vietnam national team has another chance to qualify for the World Cup after missing out last year.

The Vietnam U17 squad is once again on the brink of earning a ticket to the U17 World Cup following their confirmed participation in the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup finals.

Vietnam U17 continues to make waves with their latest victory against Malaysia, a direct rival in Group C of the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifiers.

With this result, the young Vietnamese players topped Group C with a perfect 15 points, thereby officially qualifying for the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup finals scheduled for next summer. Although they will face top regional powerhouses there, based on their performance throughout the journey, Coach Cristiano Roland’s squad is expected to cause surprises, especially considering the young Vietnamese players’ achievements in the previous tournament.

Specifically, at the 2025 AFC U17 Asian Cup finals, Vietnam U17 was drawn into a group with strong teams such as Japan, Australia, and UAE. Nevertheless, through determination and resilience, the young players created shocks with two draws against Australia and Japan, then narrowly missed victory against UAE, thus missing the chance to qualify for the 2025 U17 World Cup finals.

Therefore, at the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup finals, Coach Cristiano Roland will definitely aim to improve the team’s results compared to last year. If luck places them in a more manageable group and they maintain their recent form, it would be no surprise if Vietnam U17 secures one of the top two spots, which means a ticket to the most prestigious youth tournament by the end of next year.

The 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup finals will be held in Saudi Arabia from May 7 to 24, 2026. The group draw is scheduled for February 12, 2026. Qatar and the top eight ranked teams at the tournament will earn places at the 2026 U17 World Cup, expected to take place at the end of the year.

• List of 7 teams that advanced through the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifiers: Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Australia, China, India, and Yemen.
• List of 9 teams participating in the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup finals by virtue of qualifying for the 2025 U17 World Cup finals: Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, Qatar, South Korea, Tajikistan, UAE, and Uzbekistan.