Thai media reacts strongly as Vietnam loses World Cup qualification

Vietnam's U20 women's team officially misses the World Cup after a 0-4 defeat to Japan, while Thai media shows notable reactions to this result.

On April 11 (Vietnam time), Vietnam's U20 women's team officially bid farewell to their World Cup dream following a 0-4 loss to Japan's U20 women's team in the quarterfinals of the 2026 AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup. This outcome not only brought regret to domestic fans but also drew significant attention from regional media, especially Thailand.

On Southeast Asian forums, many news outlets acknowledged the superiority of Japan—a team that has won the Asian title six times and was the runner-up in the 2024 U20 World Cup. Among them, Thailand's KrianBuriram posted a notable status: “Vietnam cries!! Defeated by Japan by four goals. Japan officially secures a ticket to the U20 World Cup in Poland, while Vietnam is eliminated with great regret.”

This reaction partly reveals the frank perspective of Thai media on the match's situation, while also clearly reflecting the class gap between the two teams.

On the field, Japan's U20 women's team quickly demonstrated their strength by dominating both ball control and the match tempo. In the 18th minute, Itamura opened the scoring with a sharp shot into the top corner, after several missed opportunities earlier. By the end of the first half, the lead was doubled when Tago broke through and finished neatly in the 45th minute, before Fukushima headed in to raise the score to 3-0.

Entering the second half, the match situation did not change much. Japan continued to completely control the game, and in the 61st minute, Itamura completed a brace with a technical long-range shot, sealing the 4-0 victory.

Regarding Vietnam's U20 women's team, despite playing with great effort and resilience, the players faced many difficulties under constant pressure from the opponent. The team almost failed to create significant dangerous chances and mainly focused on defense for most of the time.

Stopping in the quarterfinals against a top-class opponent like Japan is not an overly surprising result, but this defeat remains a valuable lesson for Vietnam's U20 women's team on their development journey.