CFA Team International Football Tournament: A New Journey for Vietnam U23

Early yesterday morning (March 23), local time, following the journey from Hanoi, the Vietnam U23 squad has landed in Xi'an (China) to gear up for the CFA Team China – Xi'an 2026 International Football Tournament. At this venue, the Vietnam U23 side will sequentially take on North Korea U23 on March 25, encounter Thailand U23 on March 28, and compete against the host China U23 in the concluding match on March 31.

From the initial preliminary list of 30 players, interim head coach Dinh Hong Vinh has trimmed the roster down to 25 individuals. Among them, there are three players who, alongside the Vietnam U23 team under coach Kim Sang Sik, experienced an extremely successful year in 2025: goalkeeper Cao Van Binh and two midfielders Le Van Thuận and Nguyen Cong Phương.

Regarding the squad participating in this tournament, interim head coach Dinh Hong Vinh stated that the Vietnam U23 lineup gathers many young faces, including a few rare "veterans" from the Vietnam U23 generation that just won bronze at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup finals, alongside some new talents from the U21 cohort being developed for the 2026 Asian Games, and also nurturing the future succession force of Vietnamese football.

According to coach Dinh Hong Vinh, the tournament in Xi'an holds significance not only professionally but also serves as a precious opportunity for young players to accumulate international match experience, gradually mature, and improve themselves. "This is an occasion for players to test themselves against quality opponents, thereby enhancing their composure and skill level," coach Dinh Hong Vinh emphasized.

From coach Dinh Hong Vinh's statement, accumulating international match experience for the players seems to be the most crucial objective for the Vietnam U23 team in this tournament, because among the Vietnam U23 squad participating in the CFA Team China – Xi'an 2026 International Football Tournament, the number of players who regularly start in V-League is relatively modest, including goalkeeper Van Binh, defenders Quang Kiệt, Nguyen Hoàng, midfielders Ba Đạt, Long Vu, Thanh Trung, Van Thuận.

In other words, the Vietnam U23 national team roster is not very familiar to Vietnamese fans, as not everyone regularly follows V-League or the First Division to recognize these youthful faces.

Therefore, tournaments like CFA Team China – Xi'an 2026 are crucial for players to accumulate international match experience. This is also a consistent policy implemented by VFF for many years, always actively seeking and grasping opportunities for national youth teams to participate in overseas training camps or friendly matches.

When the intensity and pressure for results in V-League cause young players, especially members of ambitious clubs, to rarely get playing time due to inability to compete with senior players or foreign imports, youth tournaments like CFA Team China – Xi'an 2026 become excellent opportunities for them to showcase their abilities.

To some extent, if young players shine in the Vietnam U23 national team, they will gain more opportunities when returning to their parent clubs, and Vietnamese football history has witnessed many such cases.

Moreover, through training and competition with the Vietnam U23 national team, young players will have chances to impress coach Kim Sang Sik, so that at an appropriate time, they will be promoted by the Korean strategist, as seen in the story of Van Thuận, a midfielder who was initially excluded from the squad for the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship but was called up last-minute, later becoming a key member in the SEA Games 2025 campaign and the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup finals.

Overall, for young players, what they need most is likely opportunities to showcase themselves, and CFA Team China – Xi'an 2026 precisely is such an opportunity.