Winning the bronze medal for Vietnam Under-23 at the 2026 AFC Under-23 Championship after a thrilling third-place match against South Korea Under-23 is a well-deserved reward for a journey full of hard work. The match ended in a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes of hard-fought play before coach Kim Sang Sik’s side showed their mettle in the penalty shootout to secure a 7-6 victory.
The most notable is the Vietnamese under-23 team, which has made an impressive journey right from the base group. The Vietnam U23 team achieved a perfect record in the group stage, beating Jordan U23 2-0, Uzbekistan U23 2-1 and Saudi Arabia U23 home team 1-0, showing clear progress in playing style, composure and mental strength. In the quarter-finals, a 3-2 victory over the UAE Under-23 team further confirmed the competitiveness of Vietnamese youth football on the continental stage, before being knocked out by China Under-23 in the semi-finals.
This success shows the great potential of Vietnamese youth football. However, compared to under-23 champion Japan – a country with a well-organized and interconnected system of student and youth football leagues – it is clear that Vietnamese football still has a lot of room for improvement. Many experts believe that the long-term “disease” of Vietnamese youth football is the lack of official matches, which limits the opportunities for young players to gain experience, improve their skills and continuously develop.
In this context, the recently held, first-ever Northern Region Under-14 Club Championship 2025-2026 became a remarkable highlight. The tournament ended with the U14 Hanoi team winning, the U14 Song Lam Nghe An team finishing second and the U14 Hanoi Police team finishing third. More importantly, the results were highly rated by experts from the very beginning for an innovative and well-organized approach that closely resembled the professional model.
In Vietnam, a seasonal (league) format was introduced for the first time at the youth football level, representing a ground-breaking shift in thinking about development from the ground up. Organized by the Hanoi Youth Football Training Center (Hanoi T&T Sports Joint Stock Company), the tournament brings together eight teams: Hanoi, Hanoi Police, The Cong-Viettel, PVF, Hai Phong, Dong A Thanh Hoa, Song Lam Nghe An and Hoai Duc.
Teams compete in a double head-to-head format that takes place every Saturday at 2:00 PM from October 2025 to January 2026, fully simulating how a professional league season works. Each team will have 14 official matches, ensuring players aged 11 to 13 will have regular playing time each week, rather than just ‘training all year round’ as before.
The whole system, from registration of players and jerseys to rules, referees and match schedules, follows professional standards, only the length of the match is adjusted to 40 minutes per half to match the physical abilities of the age group. While the material rewards may not be significant, the most important thing for these young players is the emotional value, pride in competition and professional mindset that they develop from a young age.
Compared to previous youth leagues where each team played only 3-9 games per year, the two-game format increased their number 3-5 times. According to Hanoi FC technical director Yusuke Adachi, the league model creates a continuous “match-practice-match” development cycle, something short-term cup tournaments can hardly provide, especially when it comes to developing players’ individual skills and tactical thinking throughout the year.
This year’s tournament also produced some notable professional highlights: 56 games with a total of 218 goals (an average of 3.89 goals per game); four teams were still fighting for the title before the final round; and a three-half format was used for the first time, with the third half reserved for substitutes who had not yet played, ensuring equal playing opportunities. The media attractiveness of the tournament was highly rated, comparable to the under-13 or under-15 tournaments organized by the Vietnam Football Federation.
In addition, there were stories full of humanistic values and sportsmanship. The Hanoi Police Under-14 team made a strong impression as they moved from seventh place to third overall in the second half of the season to achieve a perfect record. The Dong A Thanh Hoa Under-14 and Hoai Duc Under-14 teams struggled to fight their way to the final round despite a number of professional and financial difficulties, showing a commendable spirit of camaraderie and determination.
The success of the Northern Region Under-14 Club Championship shows that for the sustainable development of Vietnamese football, it is necessary to start from the foundations of youth training with practical, long-term and professional competition models. Efforts such as that made by the Hanoi Youth Football Training Center (Hanoi T&T Sports Joint Stock Company) need to be replicated through the joint efforts of municipalities, clubs and social organizations.
From this “first step”, Vietnamese youth football is gradually entering a new phase of development that is more systematic, sustainable and closer to international standards. If the league model is maintained and expanded to U17, U19 and U21 age categories, it could become a historical turning point and lay the foundation for generations of players who would mature in real seasons and be able to take Vietnamese football further than its current success.
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