Vietnam will host a group of the qualifying round of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in July, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has confirmed.

At the qualification, 42 teams will be divided into nine groups which are held in nine countries including Vietnam. The other eight hosting countries are the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), 

Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

These teams will fight for 15 tickets to compete in the event’s final round. China qualified automatically to the final round as the hosts.

Vietnam are in No 2 seed group of the Southeast Asian region. They will have to meet one of five strong teams: Japan, the Republic of Korea, the DPRK, Australia or Thailand.

“To host a group of the AFC U23 event will help Vietnam have more chances to play in the event’s final round. It is also a chance for Vietnam to prepare for the 29th Southeast Asian Games in August,” said 

Tran Quoc Tuan, Vice Chairman of the VFF.

VNA