Vietnam participates in two AFF tournaments held for the first time

Vietnamese futsal is featured in both the first-ever U16 and U19 tournaments organized in Southeast Asia.

This afternoon (October 28), in Thailand, the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) conducted the group draw and match scheduling for the 2025 AFF U19 Futsal Championship and the 2025 AFF U16 Futsal Championship – two competitions held for the first time exclusively for youth futsal teams in the region.

According to the draw results, in the 2025 AFF U19 Futsal Championship, Vietnam’s U19 futsal team is placed in Group A alongside Thailand and Brunei. Group B includes Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Cambodia. The tournament will take place from December 23 to 29, 2025, at the Nonthaburi Provincial Gymnasium (Thailand). Teams will compete in a single round-robin format within their groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals to compete for a spot in the final.

In the 2025 AFF U16 Futsal Championship, five teams are participating: Thailand (host), Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Brunei. They will play a single round-robin to determine the top two teams to advance to the final, while the third and fourth placed teams will contest the third-place match. This tournament will be held at the same venue as the U19 championship in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

This marks the first time the ASEAN Football Federation has organized futsal tournaments for the U16 and U19 age groups, signifying an important development for youth futsal in the region. This event opens significant opportunities for young players, especially since Southeast Asia currently lacks an official competition dedicated solely to youth futsal. Previously, the only youth-level tournament was the AFC U20 Futsal Championship organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), but it has been suspended since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has not yet resumed.

Nonetheless, Vietnam’s youth futsal remains active and stable. Each year, the U19/20 futsal team regularly gathers for training camps and international friendly matches, including two high-quality games against Russia’s U19 team in 2024. Additionally, the national U20 futsal championship organized by the Vietnam Football Federation has become an important platform, helping to discover and develop many promising young futsal talents for the country.

According to the plan, to prepare for the upcoming regional tournaments, the Vietnamese U19 and U16 futsal teams are expected to begin training from November 16 in Ho Chi Minh City.