Vietnam's U20 women's team suffered a heavy defeat against the championship contender in their Asian tournament opener.

Vietnam's U20 women's team failed to pull off a surprise in their debut match at the 2026 AFC U20 Women's Asian Championship, falling 0-3 to China's U20 women's team, a leading candidate for the championship.

The match started with a relatively balanced situation. Although China's U20 women's team controlled the ball better, Vietnam's U20 women's team still had notable counter-attacking moments. In the 4th minute, Ngan Thi Thanh Hieu had a shot from a narrow angle following Le Thi Hong Yeu's pass but could not beat the opposing goalkeeper.

On the other end, Vietnam's defense also experienced some shaky moments, particularly when goalkeeper Le Thi Thu hesitated in handling the ball in the 15th minute, fortunately not leading to a goal.

For over half of the first half, Coach Okiyama Masahiko's team maintained focus and held firm under pressure. However, the turning point came in the 40th minute when a defensive mistake cost Vietnam's U20 women's team. From captain Thuy Linh's poor clearance, Zheng Luu quickly finished close-range to open the scoring for China's U20 women's team.

Just minutes later, the gap was doubled. Again, Zheng Luu with a precise cut-in after a favorable cross, put China's U20 women's team ahead 2-0 before the first half ended. Two consecutive goals put Vietnam's U20 women's team in a difficult position and forced them to change their approach in the second half.

After the break, China's U20 women's team continued to exert strong pressure. Coach Okiyama Masahiko's players gradually declined in fitness, no longer maintaining good team spacing as in the first half and faced many difficulties in launching attacks. Most of the time, Vietnam's U20 women's team had to defend deep against the opponent's continuous offensive waves.

In the 77th minute, the East Asian team officially sealed a 3-0 victory. Zeng Yujia executed a follow-up shot after a free-kick situation, leaving goalkeeper Le Thi Thu completely helpless. This also marked the end of all efforts by Vietnam's U20 team in this match.

The loss to China's U20 women's team shows the professional gap between the two teams remains quite large. Nevertheless, with a young squad and the goal of accumulating experience, Vietnam's U20 women's team still has opportunities to compete in subsequent group matches, especially decisive encounters with more evenly-matched opponents like Thailand and Bangladesh.