coach Kim directs Vietnam in their 2-0 victory over Jordan in the opening match of Group A at the U23 Asian Championship 2026, held at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 6/1/2025. Photo: AFC

The first official tournament coach Kim led the U22 or U23 Vietnam team was the U23 Southeast Asian Championship in Indonesia in 7/2025. The team won all group stage matches against Laos and Cambodia, defeated the Philippines in the semifinals, and then beat the hosts one-zero in the final.

The team's winning streak continued into the U23 Asian Championship qualifiers in 9/2025 in Phu Tho. The hosts successively defeated Bangladesh 2-0, Singapore one-zero, and Yemen one-zero.

At the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, coach Kim's team maintained a perfect record, winning all 4 matches, including two group stage games against Laos and Malaysia, the semifinal against the Philippines, and the final against the host nation.

On 6/1, Vietnam defeated Jordan 2-0 in the opening match of Group A at the U23 Asian Championship 2026 in Saudi Arabia. Across all 12 official matches leading the U22/U23 Vietnam team, coach Kim has secured victories, with the team scoring 23 goals and conceding only five. Among their opponents, there were three teams from outside Southeast Asia: Bangladesh, Yemen, and Jordan.

Nguyen Hieu Minh (left) and Pham Ly Duc celebrate Vietnam's second goal in their 2-0 victory over Jordan in the opening match of Group A at the U23 Asian Championship, held at King Abdullah Sports City Hall, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 6/1. Photo: AFC

This also marks the longest winning streak for the U22/U23 Vietnam team in official tournaments. The previous best achievement was in 2019 under coaches Nguyen Quoc Tuan and then Park Hang-seo, with a streak of 8 victories.

This winning streak began with the U22 Southeast Asian Championship third-place playoff against Cambodia, where Nguyen Quoc Tuan's team won one-zero. In the U23 Asian Championship 2020 qualifiers under coach Park, the team successively defeated Brunei 6-0, Indonesia one-zero, and Thailand 4-0 at My Dinh Stadium. Coach Park continued to lead the team to 4 consecutive victories in the group stage of the 30th Southeast Asian Games, beating Brunei 6-0, Laos 6-1, Indonesia 2-1, and Singapore one-zero.

Vietnam's U23 winning streak during this period was halted by Thailand in the final group stage match of the 30th Southeast Asian Games, resulting in a 2-2 draw. Despite this, coach Park later helped Vietnam secure its first Southeast Asian Games gold medal in men's football. During this 8-match winning streak, the team scored 27 goals and conceded only two. However, all opponents during this period were from the Southeast Asian region.

Including friendly matches, U23 Vietnam had a 9-match winning streak in 2025, but this was not a record. The record belongs to the 2005 team under the late coach Alfred Riedl, with an 11-match winning streak, comprising 8 friendly matches and only three official matches (group stage of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games).

In Southeast Asia, U23 Thailand holds the record for 17 consecutive official wins between 2003 and 2006, achieved in the 22nd Southeast Asian Games, the U23 Southeast Asian Championship 2005, the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, and the 15th Asian Games group stage.

The victory against Jordan places coach Kim's team at the top of Group A of the U23 Asian Championship 2026 with three points and a goal difference of +2 after the first round. In the second round, Vietnam will face Kyrgyzstan at 21h on friday 9/1, while Jordan will play Saudi Arabia at 23h30 on the same day, Hanoi time.

Xuan Binh