Domestic coach takes over Vietnam U23 team after Troussier's exit

According to the initial plan, coach Troussier would lead the team at the tournament Qatar in April. However, after losing 0-3 to Indonesia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, the French coach parted ways with both the Vietnam U23 and national team.

Since the tournament is approaching, as well as the squad registration deadline with the Asian Football Confederation, VFF decided to choose a domestic coach. The contract with coach Tuan will last until the end of the tournament. After that, he and VFF will continue to negotiate an extension.

Tuan, 56, and has been coaching since 2007. He has rich experience in youth football, having coached the U17, U20 and U23 teams of Vietnam. He helped the U19 team reach the U19 Asian Cup semis in 2016 and qualify for the 2017 U20 FIFA World Cup.

Under his lead, Vietnam defeated Indonesia in the final to win the 2023 U23 AFF Cup held in Thailand.

However, at the most recent tournament, the Asian Games in September 2023, his team was eliminated after being in the same group as strong opponents Iran and Saudi Arabia.

At this year's U23 Asian Cup, Vietnam are in Group D and will play Kuwait on April 17, Malaysia on April 20 and Uzbekistan on the 23rd.

This tournament also serves as the Asian qualifiers for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The top three teams will directly qualify and the fourth-placed team will enter the play-off with an African team.

According to plan, the U23 team will gather on April 5. Three days later, they will go to Qatar for training and playing a match with U23 Jordan, before entering the tournament.

To prepare for this campaign, U23 Vietnam went on a training trip in Tajikistan this month and played two friendly matches with the host country’s U23 team, winning 1-0 in the first game and drawing 0-0 in the second.

Tuan is also considered one of the candidates for the position of national team head.

However, VFF has not made a decision. In the immediate future, they plan to choose an interim coach for the remaining two games against Philippines and Iraq in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June, and at the same time seek a suitable coach to lead the team in the long term.