Vietnam in death group at U20 Asian Cup

By Hoang An October 26, 2022 | 12:59 am PT

Vietnam players (in white) during the game with Timor Leste in the qualifiers of U20 Asian Cup on September 16, 2022. Photo by Vietnam Football Federation

A draw on Wednesday put Vietnam in an arduous group B with Australia, Qatar and Iran at the U20 Asian Cup 2023.

The first opponent of Vietnam will be Australia, who haven't won the tournament but made it to the final in 2010. In the most recent three editions of U20 Asian Cup, they were eliminated twice in the group stage.

Qatar, the 2014 champions, were semifinalists at the previous tournament. In this year's qualifiers, they won all of their three matches.

Iran are the most decorated team in this group with four titles and also won all matches with no goals conceded in the qualifiers.

Vietnam, who are considered the weakest team of group B, managed to qualify for the main event as one of the best second-placed teams in the qualifiers.

The U20 Asian Cup 2023 will take place March 1 to 18 in Uzbekistan, featuring 16 teams divided into four groups. The top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the U20 World Cup two months later in Indonesia. If Indonesia are among these four teams, those who were defeated in the quarterfinals will compete for another slot at the U20 World Cup.