The qualifying round of the 2025 Vietnam Youth Student Football Tournament - THACO Cup kicked off. — Photo courtesy of organiser

HCM CITY — The qualifying round of the 2025 Vietnam Youth Student Football Tournament - THACO Cup officially kicked off on Saturday at Tôn Đức Thắng University Stadium (District 7, HCM City).

The 2025 Vietnam Youth Student Football Tournament attracted the participation of 67 teams from universities, colleges and academies nationwide. This year's tournament witnessed a record number of participating teams.

The qualifying round is divided into six groups, competing by region and taking place from December 28, 2024 to January 18, 2025. The 11 teams with the best results will join host Tôn Đức Thắng University in the final round.

The final round of the tournament will be played from March 1 to 16, 2025. The champion of the tournament and host team Tôn Đức Thắng University will represent Việt Nam to compete in the 2025 International Youth and Student Football Championship.

The winning team will receive a prize of VNĐ300 million, while the runner-up team will receive VNĐ150 million and the two third-place teams will receive VNĐ70 million.

The HCM City regional qualifying round with 28 participating teams is the first region to start, beginning this afternoon (December 28).

The opening ceremony attracted the attention of many leaders, guests and fans.

Nguyễn Minh Triết, secretary of the Central Youth Union, president of the Central Vietnam Student Association, and Nguyễn Xuân Vũ, vice president of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), were present to witness the opening ceremony and encourage the teams.

Also on opening day, defending champion HCM City University of Physical Education and Sports unexpectedly lost to the HCM City University of Transport team by a score of 2-0. — VNS