Vietnam are joined by South Korea, Australia, Thailand and North Korea, meaning they will avoid these teams in the group stage.

U23 Vietnam players celebrate the 4-0 victory over Thailand in the AFC U23 Championship qualification match on March 26, 2020.

The second group has Japan, China, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore. The third group consists of Hong Kong, Laos, Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Cambodia while the fourth group Chinese Taipei, Mongolia, the Philippines, Macau, Brunei, Guam and Northern Marina Island.

Seeding is based on team performance in the previous tournament.

During U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, 46 teams are divided into two zones. The West Zone consists of 24 teams from West, Central and South Asia, while the East Zone involves 22 teams from East and Southeast Asia. Teams from different zones will not be placed into the same group.

The draw ceremony for U23 Asian Cup qualifiers will take place at the AFC headquarter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The schedule for the draw will be announced soon.

Qualifiers will be played between Oct. 23 and 31. Teams will compete on a round-robin basis to decide the top 11 and four second-placed teams to advance to the final round in hosts Uzbekistan from Sept. 6 to 25 next year. Each group will have a different host.

Vietnam have qualified for U23 Asian Cup (formerly AFC U23 Championship) three times in a row. The team finished as runners-up in the 2018 edition, but in 2020, exited during the group stage.

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Source: VnExpress