Japanese referee Yamashita Yoshimi will take charge of Thể Công-Viettel's AFC Champions League Two game against FC Seoul at 19:15 on 28 October, Thanh Nien reported. Seoul arrive as new K League champions, having sealed the 2026 title on 24 October. In the AFC Champions League Elite, South Korean referee Choi Hyun-jai has been appointed for Shanghai Port against Công an Hà Nội (CAHN) at 17:00 on 27 October.

The two teams before 28 October

ItemThể Công-ViettelFC Seoul
AFC Champions League Two, Group E1 point: drew with Melbourne Victory, lost to Persib Bandunglost both games, bottom of the group
League4 points from 5 V.League games2026 K League champions with 5 rounds to spare

Bongda24h, republishing a Thể thao & Văn hóa report, said Seoul clinched the title with a 1-1 home draw against Gangwon FC at Seoul World Cup Stadium while closest rivals Ulsan HD drew 2-2 with Pohang Steelers. After 33 rounds Seoul had 67 points from 20 wins, 7 draws and 6 defeats, 16 points clear of Ulsan. Their 61 goals were the most in the league and the 29 they conceded the fewest. Polish striker Patryk Klimala scored 16 goals, and Jeong Seung-won added 8 goals and 7 assists.

It is the club's seventh league title and the first since 2016. Seoul fell as low as 11th in 2018 and had to play a relegation play-off; coach Kim Gi-dong, in charge since 2024, finished fourth and sixth before this season's breakthrough. The clubs have met before: Seoul held their pre-season camp in Hanoi in January 2025, with former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard in the squad, and played Viettel in a friendly on 23 January 2025 at the Vietnam youth football training centre.

The referees

Yamashita, born in Tokyo on 20 February 1986, has been a FIFA referee since 2015. In 2022 she became the first woman to take charge of a match in the AFC Champions League and in Japan's J1 League, and at the Asian Cup 2023 she became the first woman to referee a match at the finals. She was one of six women FIFA picked for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, working as a fourth official, refereed the opening game of the 2023 Women's World Cup between New Zealand and Norway, and officiated at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics. Her assistants are Makoto Bozono and Chihiro Ikki, both from Japan.

Choi, born in 1990 and on the FIFA list since 2020, knows Vietnamese teams well, according to Thanh Nien. He refereed U22 Vietnam's 3-0 win over U22 Indonesia at SEA Games 31; in 2025 he took charge of U23 Vietnam's 1-0 win over U23 Singapore in U23 Asian Cup 2026 qualifying and the senior team's 1-0 win over Nepal at Thống Nhất Stadium in Asian Cup 2027 qualifying; and he refereed the Group A opener of the U23 Asian Cup 2026 finals, a 2-0 win for U23 Vietnam over U23 Jordan. At the Pudong stadium in Shanghai he will work with assistants Chang Jung-pil and Cheon Jin-hee, fourth official Kim Hee-gon, VAR Kim Woo-sung and assistant VAR Choi Chul-jun.

What comes next

CAHN, coached by Mano Polking, lost 1-4 to Gamba Osaka and 0-1 to Kashima Antlers in their first two games, while Shanghai Port have 4 points and sit fifth in the overall table. Both Vietnamese clubs therefore go into this round needing points. Background on Viettel's slump is in Thể Công-Viettel's four-game winless run, and CAHN's trip is covered in Công an Hà Nội travel to Shanghai. See also Công an Hà Nội fixtures and the V.League table.