Thai media exclaims as Vietnam repeatedly comes up empty-handed

From the SEA Games to two Southeast Asian youth futsal tournaments, Vietnamese teams have failed to reach the top 3.

Page Futsal poonpoon(Thailand) commented that Vietnam’s futsal performance in December 2025 is highly alarming. Including the SEA Games, U16 futsal, and U19 futsal Southeast Asia tournaments, not a single Vietnamese men’s futsal team managed to qualify for the finals or even secure a bronze medal.

Futsal poonpoonwrote: "Vietnamese futsal has truly hit rock bottom in December. At the SEA Games, they finished 4th overall, suffering a shocking loss to Malaysia. The U19 futsal team lost to Malaysia in the third-place match on penalties, and the U16 team also fell to the weaker Myanmar."

Although victory seemed certain, the U19 futsal team allowed Malaysia to equalize with just 6 seconds left, then lost in the penalty shootout, missing out on the bronze medal at the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 futsal championship.

Earlier, the younger U16 team also lost the third-place match. Despite having come from behind to defeat the same opponent in the group stage, the U16 Vietnamese futsal team could not repeat the feat, losing 1-2 to Myanmar in the bronze match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 futsal championship.

Although the results fell short of initial expectations, they still provided valuable lessons and experience for the future development of the young players.

This is the first time the Southeast Asian Football Federation has organized futsal tournaments for U16 and U19 age groups, marking an important milestone for youth futsal in the region. This event opens significant opportunities for young players, especially since Southeast Asia currently lacks an official youth futsal competition. Unfortunately, Vietnam only managed 4th place in their debut at the U16 and U19 futsal championships.