On the afternoon of January 23, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) conducted the draw for the final stages of the 2025 AFC U17 Championship. The tournament will take place from April 3 to April 20 in Saudi Arabia, featuring 16 teams including 15 qualifiers and the host, Saudi Arabia.
At the draw ceremony, AFC divided the 16 teams into 4 groups, each consisting of 4 teams. Based on the ranking points from the last three finals (2023, 2018, 2016) with corresponding weights of 100%, 50%, and 25%, Vietnam U17 was placed in Pot 3 along with Thailand, Oman, and Afghanistan.
Pot 1 includes strong teams such as Saudi Arabia (hosts), Japan, South Korea, and Iran. Pot 2 comprises Australia, Yemen, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Meanwhile, Pot 4 consists of China, North Korea, Indonesia, and the UAE.
According to the draw results, Vietnam U17 has been drawn into a challenging group with reigning champions Japan, Australia—three-time semifinalists—and the UAE. This makes the prospects of advancing for the team led by Coach Cristiano Roland extremely difficult.
Starting from the U17 World Cup 2025 in Qatar, FIFA decided to increase the number of participating teams from 24 to 48. Consequently, Asia has been allocated 8 spots, meaning that the top 8 teams reaching the quarterfinals at the 2025 AFC U17 Championship will secure berths at the U17 World Cup 2025.
Despite Asia having more slots at the U17 World Cup, Vietnam U17 will need to put in maximum effort to overcome strong opponents and secure a spot in the world’s largest tournament for this age group.
