Home > Sports > Football

Korean coach for Vietnam to face native country in U-23 football match

Published: 21 Jan. 2026, 09:34 Updated: 21 Jan. 2026, 16:52

Vietnam head coach Kim Sang-sik of Korea celebrates with the Vietnam U-23 soccer team after defeating Indonesia during their final Asean U-23 Championship soccer match at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 29, 2025. [AP/YONHAP]

Vietnam will face Korea, their head coach's home country, in the third-place match of the top Asian men's U-23 football tournament in Saudi Arabia this week.

Coached by Kim Sang-sik, Vietnam lost to China 3-0 in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on Tuesday.

Hours earlier, Korea lost to Japan 1-0 in their semifinal match to drop to the third-place contest, which will kick off at King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium in Jeddah at 6 p.m. Friday local time, or midnight Friday Korea time.

Vietnam had been undefeated before losing to China, who had a goal apiece from Peng Xiao, Xiang Yuwang and Wang Yudong.

In Group A, Vietnam beat Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia in succession, scoring five goals and conceding just one. Then Vietnam knocked off the United Arab Emirates 3-2 in extra time in the quarterfinals.

Kim has been in charge of Vietnam's U-23 and senior men's teams since May 2024 and enjoyed big success in 2025. In January last year, the senior team won the Asean Championship, and then Vietnam also won the Asean U-23 title in July before adding the Southeast Asian Games title in December.

Vietnam have never won an AFC U-23 title and came closest in 2018, when they lost to Uzbekistan in the final.

Korea, coached by Lee Min-sung, had been trying to win their first title since 2020.

Yonhap