2022 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers: Vietnam U23 Team Faces Myanmar, Hong Kong and Taiwan

The draw ceremony for the 2022 AFC U23 Championship qualifying round will be held at 2:00 p.m. (Vietnam time) on July 9 at the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The U23 Vietnam team is in the number 1 seed group in the Eastern region along with South Korea, Australia, Thailand and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

According to the results of the draw,Vietnam U23 teamfell into a fairly easy group, meeting opponents Myanmar, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In this group, Taiwan was awarded the hosting rights by the AFC.

Meanwhile, Vietnam's neighboring opponent, U23 Thailand, is in a group with Malaysia, Laos and Mongolia. This is also an easy group for the Golden Temple team.

Lottery results. Photo: Hai Hoang

There are a total of 43 teams participating in the 2022 AFC U23 Qualifiers, including 23 teams from the West region (including West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia) and 20 teams from the East region (including East Asia and Southeast Asia).

The 23 teams from the West will be drawn into six groups (five groups of four teams and one group of three teams). Meanwhile, the 20 teams from the East will be drawn into five groups of four teams each.

43 teams representing Asia are divided into 11 groups, competing in a round-robin format to calculate rankings. The 11 group winners and 4 second-place teams with the best results will be selected to play in the final round.

U23 Vietnam with the core of U22 players participating in SEA Games 31. Photo: Hai Hoang

Based on the results, the U23 Vietnam team is ranked in the top seed group in the Eastern region with four teams: South Korea, Australia, Thailand and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Vietnam U23 team made a miracle with the runner-up position at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in Changzhou (China). However, at the 2020 AFC U23 Championship in Thailand, coach Park Hang Seo and his team failed to get past the group stage.

As planned,AFC U23 Championship 2022 Qualifierswill take place from October 23 to October 31, 2021. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers will take place in a round-robin format with points calculated for each group. The 11 first-placed teams and the 4 second-placed teams with the best results will qualify for the finals, held in Uzbekistan from June 1 to June 19, 2022.

Draw results:

Group A: Serie A, Qatar, Yemen, Sri Lanka

Group B: Iran, Tajikistan, Lebanon, Nepal

Group C: Iraq, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Maldives

Group D: Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Uzbekistan

Group E: UAE, Oman, India, Kyrgyz Republic

Group F: Jordan, Palestine, Turkmenistan

Group G: Australia, China, Indonesia, Brunei

Group H: South Korea, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Philippines

Group I: Vietnam, Myanmar, Hong Kong (China), Chinese Taipei

Group J: Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Mongolia

Group K: DPRK, Japan, Cambodia

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