Jakarta, ThedailyID — Vietnam U-20 suffered a major setback in the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers after losing all three of their matches in Group C.
Vietnam finished bottom of the group with zero points and failed to secure a place in the 2027 tournament. The result also affects their path toward the 2029 edition.
Vietnam opened its campaign with a 0-3 defeat to North Korea. They then lost 1-2 to Palestine before suffering another defeat, 1-3 against Iran.
Across the three matches, Vietnam scored just two goals and conceded eight.
As a result, Vietnam will not only miss the 2027 Asian Cup but will also drop to the Development Phase under the AFC’s new qualification system.
The new format separates the competition into a Qualification Phase and a Development Phase. The six lowest-ranked teams in the Qualification Phase will move to the Development Phase for the next competition cycle.
The Development Phase provides relegated teams with a route back into the Qualification Phase. Teams are divided into groups, with the top two sides from each group earning promotion for the following edition.
Therefore, Vietnam cannot directly compete in the Qualification Phase for the 2029 AFC U-20 Asian Cup. They must first play in the Development Phase.
Vietnam will need to finish among the top two teams in its Development Phase group to earn promotion back to the Qualification Phase for 2029.
The result marks a difficult period for Vietnam’s youth team. The country failed to win a single match in the 2027 qualifiers, with Vietnamese media describing the campaign as one of the team’s worst results in the past decade.
