Drought is the main environmental stress factor that leads to yield reduction in soybean (Glycine max). The canopy wilting caused by drought stress is the external expression of the water potential status and osmotic-regulation status, which can directly reflect the drought tolerance of soybean. The improvement of drought resistance and grain yield via deploying and incorporating slow-wilting tolerance germplasm has been accepted in practical uses. This article reviews the progress on the physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying slow-wilting in soybean. Breeding for slow-wilting soybean lines/varieties in China was limited largely due to the insufficiency of elite slow-wilting germplasm resources. The suggestions on identification of elite slow-wilting germplasms and cloning of genes underlying the slow-wilting process in soybean are proposed. Thus, this article provides considerable insights to understand the interaction networks between slow canopy wilting and drought resistance and yield, and to guide the breeding of slow-wilting cultivars in soybean.