Football

PHÚ THỌ — Việt Nam kicked off their AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bangladesh on September 3 at the Việt Trì Stadium in Phú Thọ Province. The hosts took an early lead in Group C, moving to the top of the table as Yemen narrowly defeated Singapore 2-1 earlier in the day.

Việt Nam started aggressively, with Nguyễn Phi Hoàng’s long-range shot striking the post in the 10th minute. Five minutes later, the breakthrough came when Nguyễn Đình Bắc threaded a clever through ball to Nguyễn Ngọc Mỹ, who curled a precise finish beyond Bangladesh goalkeeper Mehdi Srabon to open the scoring.

Bangladesh pressed on set-pieces in search of an equaliser, coming close in the 35th minute when Shekh Morsalin unleashed a powerful strike from distance that forced a strong save from Việt Nam’s keeper Trần Trung Kiên.

After the interval, Việt Nam maintained pressure with a series of attempts on goal. Srabon was kept busy, aided by the crossbar when a Lê Viktor shot rattled the frame. Lê eventually sealed the victory in the 83rd minute, heading in from close range following a knockdown by Phạm Lý Đức.

Lê also made history as the first overseas Vietnamese player to score for the U23 national team in an Asian tournament.

Coach Kim Sang-sik of Việt Nam said he was pleased with the result in the post match press conference but added that his side needed to improve ahead of the next round of fixtures.

"Việt Nam created many threatening opportunities but couldn't convert them all into goals. Meanwhile our opponent played better in the second half and their goalkeeper did a really good job. Anyway, a 2-0 win is a really good start," said Kim.

The South Korean coach praised midfielder Lê, congratulating him on scoring his first goal for Việt Nam after a strong performance. He also commended striker Nguyễn Thanh Nhàn for his impressive comeback from injury and hoped that he would perform even better in the next two matches.

Regarding Nguyễn Xuân Bắc, the coach advised him to improve his passing accuracy and movement on the pitch to make better use of his strengths in physicality and speed.

As Bangladesh head coach Saiful Bari Titu was sick, his assistant Hasan Al Mamun took charge of the team and said Việt Nam deserved to win because of their undeniable power.

“Playing without the head coach was not a reason but we lost because Việt Nam are the strongest team in this group," Hasan said.

"Their strength showed clearly on the field. We tried our best but against such a quality team with smart tactics we couldn't do better. We had to accept defeat and learn from it to prepare better for the next game and vie for a place in the next stage."

In the earlier game, Radhi Ebrahim and Abdulaziz Awadh scored for Yemen in the first half while Louka Tan-Vaissiere narrowed the gap for Singapore in the 80th minute.

Singapore will target their first win against Việt Nam on August 6 while Bangladesh will need to defeat Yemen to revive their hopes. VNS