Indonesia's hopes of advancing in the U17 Asian Cup were dashed following a 1-3 defeat to Japan in their final Group B match. Coach Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto's squad needed at least a draw to progress but could not pull off an upset against the tournament's most successful team. Japan's goals came from Ryoma Tsuneyoshi, Takeshi Wada, and Arata Okamoto, with Peres Tjoe scoring Indonesia's only goal.

In another Group B fixture played simultaneously, China secured a 2-0 victory over Qatar, thanks to goals from He Sifan and Zhang Bolin. This win allowed China to claim the second qualifying spot from Group B, behind Japan. China, Qatar, and Indonesia all finished with three points, but China advanced due to a superior head-to-head record. Qatar placed third and was eliminated from the tournament's knockout stages, though they will still participate in the U17 World Cup 2026 as hosts. Indonesia finished last in the group, despite having beaten China 1-0 in their opening match.

U17 Thailand (in blue shirts) during their match against Myanmar in the final Group A game of the U17 Asian Cup at Training Pitch B of King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the evening of 12/5/2026. Photo: FAT

With Qatar's elimination from group stage progression, the opportunity for third-placed teams to qualify for the U17 World Cup through this tournament was removed. Consequently, Thailand and Myanmar in Group A lost their chance to reach the World Cup after suffering defeats in their first two matches.

In their final Group A encounter, Thailand played Myanmar in a formality match. Myanmar initially took a 2-0 lead with a brace from Sai Myat Min, before Pakorn Suttiprapa and David Gabert scored to equalize for Thailand. In this group, hosts Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan both advanced to the knockout stage with 7 points each, following a 5-5 draw in their last match. Thailand and Myanmar both finished with one point, with coach Marco Gockel's team placing above Myanmar on goal difference.

Following the exits of Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar, Vietnam stands as the last remaining Southeast Asian representative in the tournament. The team is currently second in Group C with three points, trailing South Korea (4 points). Yemen (3 points) and UAE (1 point) are in third and fourth place, respectively. Coach Cristiano Roland's squad is set to face UAE in their decisive final Group C match at 0:00 on Thursday, 14/5, Hanoi time.

A victory against UAE would guarantee Vietnam a spot in the quarterfinals and secure their qualification for the U17 World Cup. Should they draw with UAE, coach Cristiano Roland's team would need South Korea to avoid defeat against Yemen to advance, as Vietnam would then hold a superior head-to-head record over Yemen. However, a loss to UAE would result in Roland's squad being eliminated from both the tournament and World Cup contention.