Striker Nguyen Dinh Bac's spectacular free-kick against South Korea in the third-place playoff on the evening of 23/1 was his fourth goal of the tournament. Two other players, Ali Azaizeh of Jordan and Leonardo Farah Shahin of Lebanon, also have four goals. However, their teams have been eliminated, meaning they can no longer improve their tally.

His previous goals included a penalty that opened the scoring in a 2-0 group stage win against Jordan. He also scored a brilliant solo goal against Saudi Arabia and a back-header to equalize at 2-2 in a 3-2 quarter-final victory over UAE.

Nguyen Dinh Bac during Vietnam's win against South Korea in the U23 Asian Championship third-place playoff at King Abdullah Sports City Hall, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the evening of 23/1. *Ted Tran*

Japan's midfielder Ryunosuke Sato has scored three goals. Three other players, Yuto Ozeki and Shusuke Furuya of Japan, and Peng Xiao of China, have two goals and remain in contention. Sato needs two more goals to surpass Dinh Bac, while Ozeki, Furuya, and Peng each require three additional goals.

The top scorer award goes to the player with the most goals. If multiple players are tied, they share the honor. The last instance of this was in 2022, when five players each scored three goals: Yuito Suzuki (Japan), Ayman Yahya (Saudi Arabia), Cho Young-wook (South Korea), Suphanat Mueanta (Thailand), and Jasurbek Jaloliddinov (Uzbekistan). Vietnam has never had a representative win this award.

Dinh Bac also leads the tournament in overall goal contributions, combining goals and assists. His pass for Nguyen Quoc Viet's opening goal against South Korea on the evening of 23/1 was his second assist. He previously set up Nguyen Le Phat for the opening goal in the quarter-final win against UAE. With a total of six goal contributions, Dinh Bac leads the tournament, one more than Sato. This statistic, however, does not have a separate award.

The U23 Asian Championship 2026 best player award is typically given to a member of a finalist team. Therefore, Dinh Bac faces an uphill battle against players like goalkeeper Li Hao of China or midfielder Sato. While Dinh Bac has six goal contributions this year, this is not a record for a Vietnamese player in a U23 Asian Championship. That record belongs to midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai, who recorded five goals and two assists in 2018.

Dinh Bac delivered many memorable moments in this tournament, including his solo goal, back-header, free-kick, and assists. However, he ended his campaign with a direct red card in the 86th minute for a dangerous tackle. This red card results in a two-match suspension from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which includes a crucial senior national team qualifier against Malaysia for the Asian Cup 2027 at Thien Truong Stadium on the evening of 31/3.

Born on 19/8/2004 in Nghe An, Dinh Bac developed at the SLNA academy before joining Quang Nam. He currently plays for Cong An Ha Noi FC and has made 13 appearances for the senior national team. Dinh Bac was also named the best player at the U23 Southeast Asian Championship 2025, a tournament Vietnam won for the third consecutive time.

Xuan Binh