Both Vietnam and Indonesia are former champions of this tournament. Indonesia won the title in 2019 after defeating Thailand 2-1 in the final. Vietnam emerged victorious in 2022 and 2023, beating Thailand and Indonesia respectively in the final matches. This is the second consecutive year these two teams have met in the final.

Vietnam holds the record for most wins in the Southeast Asia U23 Championship. They also boast the longest winning streak in the tournament (12 matches – stretching from the third-place match in 2019 to this year's semi-final, including two penalty shootout victories).

Vietnam's most recent defeat in the tournament was against Indonesia, a 0-1 loss in the 2019 semi-final. Indonesia's most recent defeat was also against Vietnam in the 2023 final. The two teams were tied 0-0 after 120 minutes before Vietnam won 6-5 on penalties.

Indonesia's journey to the final has been more challenging than Vietnam's. Gerald Vanenburg's team has played four matches, including tense encounters against Malaysia and Thailand. In the semi-final, Indonesia trailed Thailand until the 84th minute before equalizing and winning in a penalty shootout. Meanwhile, Vietnam needed only 90 minutes to defeat the Philippines 2-1 in their semi-final.

Vy Anh