New format creates a “group of death” for Vietnam in Asian qualifiers

Vietnam U20 landed in a challenging group for the 2027 AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers, facing Iran, North Korea, and Palestine after the AFC draw.

The draw for the 2027 AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers placed Vietnam U20 in a demanding Group C alongside strong opponents Iran, North Korea, and Palestine. The change in competition format makes this group even more unpredictable, forcing coach Yutaka Ikeuchi and his team to face a difficult journey from the very start.

According to the seeding results, Iran U20 is considered the top seed of the group and a strong candidate for first place. The West Asian team is well-known for its systematic youth development and regularly makes an impact at the continental level. The other two opponents, North Korea and Palestine, are also not easy to beat, as both have shown clear progress in recent years, especially in discipline and tactical organization.

Although placed in a difficult group, Vietnam U20 still has an important advantage by playing on home soil.Coach Yutaka Ikeuchi and his team began their preparation in mid-March 2026, aiming to build the squad and refine tactics. As a second-seeded team, Vietnam U20 is expected to compete on equal terms with the other teams in the group.

The 2027 AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers feature a major structural change, adopting a two-tier competition model consisting of a qualifying stage and a development stage. Accordingly, strong teams like Vietnam U20 will take part in the qualifiers, while the remaining group plays in the development stage to gain more experience. The new model is expected to reduce the gap in quality but also makes the group dynamics harder to predict.

Not only Vietnam U20, but many teams in the region such as Indonesia and Thailand also landed in challenging groups. Notably, the new ranking system stipulates that the six bottom-placed teams with the worst records will be relegated to the development stage, while some teams from that stage can be promoted in the next cycle, creating very high competitiveness.

In this context, Vietnam U20's goal is to compete for the best second-place finish, although the team still aims for first place if the opportunity arises. “This is also the first U20 Asian Cup to apply a two-tier model consisting of a qualifying stage and a development stage.” The squad for the tournament is the current U19 generation, which is being refined through training camps and international matches, starting with the 2026 ASEAN U19 Championship in Indonesia to prepare as best as possible for the continental arena.