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Under coach Kim Sang-sik, the streak began at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in Indonesia, where Vietnam won all four matches, including a 1-0 victory over hosts Indonesia in the final. It continued through the 2026 U23 Asian Championship qualifiers in Phu Tho, where Vietnam, as hosts, beat Bangladesh, Singapore, and Yemen to secure a place at the finals.

The run was further extended at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand last month, with Vietnam winning all four matches en route to the gold medal, including victories over Laos and Malaysia in the group stage, the Philippines in the semi-finals, and hosts Thailand in the final.

Vietnam have maintained that momentum at the 2026 U23 Asian Championship. In the group stage, Kim’s side defeated Jordan 2-0, Kyrgyzstan 2-1, and Saudi Arabia 1-0 before edging the UAE in the quarter-finals on Jan. 16 to reach the semi-finals for the second time.

The match at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium saw multiple momentum swings. Nguyen Le Phat opened the scoring in the 39th minute, but the UAE equalized three minutes later. Nguyen Dinh Bac restored Vietnam’s lead with a header in the 62nd minute, only for Mansoor Saeed to level again six minutes later. In extra time, defender Pham Minh Phuc scored the decisive goal to seal a historic victory.

The result marked Vietnam’s first-ever win over the UAE at U23 level after eight previous meetings without victory. It also extended the UAE’s record of quarter-final exits at the tournament to four.

Vietnam’s 15-match winning streak is the longest in the history of the national U23 team, surpassing the previous record of eight set in 2019 under coaches Nguyen Quoc Tuan and Park Hang-seo. Thailand held the same 15-match record 20 years ago.

Vietnam also made history as the first Southeast Asian team to reach the semi-finals of the U23 Asian Championship twice, having previously done so in 2018. Indonesia achieved the feat once in 2024, while no other regional team have advanced that far.

Coach Kim has also guided Vietnam to a record four wins at a single U23 Asian Championship, exceeding the three-match total from the 2018 runner-up campaign.

Vietnam will face either Uzbekistan or China in the semi-finals, scheduled for 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 (Hanoi time).