The 21-year-old Vietnamese forward finished with four goals, level with three other players, but claimed the title after AFC tiebreakers were applied following the final on Jan. 24.

Vietnam forward Nguyen Dinh Bac celebrates his 64th-minute goal to secure a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the final Group A match of the 2026 U23 Asian Cup at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 12, 2026.

Japan defeated China 4-0 in the final at King Abdullah Sports City Hall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with midfielder Ryunosuke Sato scoring once to draw level on four goals with Dinh Bac, Ali Azaizeh of Jordan, and Leonardo Farah Shahin of Lebanon.

Under AFC competition regulations for 2026, if players are tied on goals, the Top Scorer award is decided by assists. If that remains level, the award goes to the player who has played fewer minutes.

Dinh Bac and Sato both recorded two assists, while Azaizeh and Shahin had none. The Vietnamese forward won the award outright after logging fewer minutes than Sato, 409 compared with 451.

"What made Binh Dac’s performance at Saudi Arabia 2026 even more impressive was the fact that the forward only started two of Vietnam’s six matches, with his minutes having to be managed due to injury," the Asian Football Confederation wrote in praise of the No. 7.

Dinh Bac reached the four-goal mark a day earlier with a free kick in the third-place playoff against South Korea, capping a standout individual tournament.

His earlier goals included a penalty that opened the scoring in a 2-0 group-stage win over Jordan, a solo run and finish against Saudi Arabia, and a looping backward header to equalize at 2-2 in a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over the UAE. All of his goals came against Asia’s top-tier opponents.

With six goal involvements, four goals and two assists, Dinh Bac also set a new record for a Vietnamese player at a single U23 Asian Cup.

The previous best belonged to Nguyen Quang Hai in 2018, when he scored five goals with no assists. That year, Quang Hai finished one goal behind Qatar striker Almoez Ali in the Top Scorer race.

The tournament showcased Dinh Bac’s all-around attacking game, from solo runs and headers to free kicks and final passes. However, his campaign ended on a sour note when he received a straight red card in the 86th minute of the third-place match for a dangerous studs-up challenge.

The suspension handed down by the AFC rules him out of the next two matches, including Vietnam’s Asian Cup 2027 qualifier against Malaysia at Thien Truong Stadium on March 31, 2026.

Born on Aug. 19, 2004, in Nghe An, Nguyen Dinh Bac came through the SLNA academy before joining Quang Nam and later signing for Cong An Ha Noi FC.

He has made 13 appearances for the senior national team and was named Best Player at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, where Vietnam won the title for the third straight time.

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