The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has officially appointed the refereeing team for the Group A clash between U23 Vietnam and U23 Kyrgyzstan at the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026.

The match will be overseen by Heidari Payam from Iran, who will serve as the main referee. He will be assisted by fellow Iranians Farhad Farhadpoor and Ali Ahmadi. The fourth official is Zaid Thamer Mohammed from Iraq.

The video assistant referee (VAR) for the match is Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari Bin Jahari from Singapore, with Luk Kin Sun from Hong Kong (China) as assistant VAR.

Referee Heidari Payam has held FIFA accreditation since 2015 and is regularly assigned to major AFC tournaments. He began his refereeing career in 1999 and officiated his first match in Iran’s top-flight league on August 19, 2014.

He is well-known for his strict disciplinary style. In the current 2025–26 season alone, Payam has issued 70 yellow cards and 3 red cards so far. Notably, one of those red cards came during Laos’ 1-4 loss to Malaysia at the 33rd SEA Games.

In U23 Vietnam’s opening match, South Korean referee Choi Hyun Jai was in charge. He delivered a strong performance, including a correct decision to award a penalty after reviewing a handball by a U23 Jordan player in the 11th minute. Dinh Bac calmly converted from the spot to open the scoring for U23 Vietnam.

That 2-0 victory over U23 Jordan gave Vietnam a strong start at the tournament, building confidence for head coach Kim Sang Sik and his team as they aim for a deep run in the continental competition.

U23 Vietnam will face U23 Kyrgyzstan at 9:00 PM on January 9, a pivotal match in their bid to reach the quarterfinals.

Dai Nam