Hanoi, 17 January 2026 – Contrary to circulating claims of multi-million-dollar rewards, the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 being held in Saudi Arabia carries no official prize money, with achievements recognized through trophies, medals, and individual awards instead.
The AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026, currently taking place in Saudi Arabia, does not offer prize money, in line with previous editions and other AFC youth tournaments. After Vietnam U23 defeated U23 United Arab Emirates 3–2 on the evening of January 16 to reach the semi-finals, reports emerged claiming the champions would receive USD 6 million, with runners-up and third-place teams also earning substantial sums.
However, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) officially denied this information, reaffirming that the tournament has no prize money, as stipulated in the competition regulations. According to the official rules of the U23 Asian Cup 2026, the champions will be awarded the trophy and 43 medals, while the runners-up and third-placed team will receive an equivalent number of medals. Any additional medals required must be requested separately, with production costs covered by the requesting association.
In addition to team honors, the tournament features a Fair Play Award, typically given to the team with the fewest disciplinary sanctions among the top four, along with three individual awards: Player of the Tournament, Top Scorer, and Best Goalkeeper.
Participating teams are responsible for covering their own international travel expenses to Saudi Arabia, as well as certain incidental costs. The host nation, meanwhile, provides accommodation and domestic transportation throughout the tournament.
From the AFC’s perspective, youth competitions such as the U17, U20 and U23 Asian Cups are designed primarily as development platforms. The focus is placed on nurturing talent, gaining international experience and building future national teams, rather than on commercial value or direct financial rewards.
Among AFC competitions, only the senior men’s and women’s AFC Asian Cup offer prize money. At the Asian Cup 2023, the champions received USD 5 million, the runners-up earned USD 3 million, while the two semi-finalists were each awarded USD 1 million.
Despite the absence of prize money from the tournament organizer, VFF has so far rewarded head coach Kim Sang-sik and his players a total of VND 3.1 billion. This includes VND 1.9 billion for the perfect group-stage performance and an additional VND 1.2 billion following the quarter-final victory.
At the 2018 U23 Asian Cup, Vietnam finished as runners-up under coach Park Hang-seo and received approximately VND 50 billion in bonuses from VFF, state rewards and sponsors. Under Kim Sang-sik, the current U23 side has won 15 consecutive official matches, claiming titles at the Southeast Asian U23 Championship and SEA Games 33.
Vietnam’s next challenge will be against the winner of the quarter-final between U23 Uzbekistan and U23 China, scheduled for the evening of January 17.
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