Saudi Arabia take the trophy at the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship in Indonesia. (Photo: AFC)

Specifically, Vietnam will join Cambodia, Myanmar and Chinese Taipei to host the East Zone matches in the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers, which will gather 21 teams in four groups of four and one group of five teams.

The West Zone matches will be co-hosted by Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan, featuring the participation of 25 teams in five groups of four and one group of five teams.

The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers will see four countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos and Myanmar hosting the East Zone groups – three groups of four teams and two groups of five.

Meanwhile, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan will be the hosts of the West Zone qualifiers – five groups of four teams and one group of five.

Playing at home in both tournaments is expected to make the young Vietnamese players more confident in their campaigns to clinch berths in the final competitions.

Last month, Vietnam also successfully hosted the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers, during which the Vietnamese squad, coached by Park Hang-seo, made it through to the finals following an impressive three-game winning streak. Especially, Park’s side thrashed arch rivals Thailand with four unanswered goals – the biggest win for a Vietnamese team against Thailand in history.

Nhan Dan