Vietnam national football team

Early Vietnamese football with Vietnamese players and French officials in the Championnat Cochinchine, c. 1922–23

The introduction of football into Vietnam traced its roots in 1896 during the era of colonial French Cochinchina. At the early stage, the sport are only played among French civil servants, merchants and soldiers. The French then encouraged local Vietnamese to played football and several other sports that were introduced to them to divert their interest from politics which resulting the sport being spread to other regions, mostly the northern and central region.[14][15] On 20 July 1908, the newspaper Southern Luc Tan Van reported the match between two local Vietnamese teams for the first time. A first football guidebook then published in 1925 by a local Vietnamese doctor named Pham Van Tiec to attract the interest among Vietnamese youngsters.[16] By 1928, the Vietnamese had established the Annamite Sports Bureau and in the same year they sent a Vietnamese football team to compete in Singapore. More local football clubs then established in both northern and southern Vietnam although it was not until after the World War II that football clubs in the region started to become more organised.[17] It was the time Vietnam played their first ever international match, against Korea in Saigon which they lost 2–4.

The South Vietnam team winning gold at the 1959 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games.

The North Vietnam team in 1956.

Two national football teams then existed when Vietnam was divided into 2 countries which were South Vietnam and North Vietnam. The team from the South participated in the first two AFC Asian Cup finals (1956 AFC Asian Cup and 1960 AFC Asian Cup) and finished in fourth place both times. They won the first Southeast Asian Games gold in 1959 in Thailand. The team also entered qualification for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, beating Thailand 1–0 to qualify the classification matches before losing their group opening matches by 0–4 to Japan and 0–1 to Hong Kong. The team played their last game against Malaysia in 1975 where they lost 0–3. Meanwhile, the team from the North was less active, not being a member of either AFC and FIFA, often playing against other communist states between 1956 and 1966. They had their first match against China PR where they lost 3–5 under head coach Truong Tan Buu. They participated in the first GANEFO (Games of the New Emerging Forces) competitions at Indonesia in 1962 and Cambodia in 1966. Both teams ceased to exist when the North and South regions were combined into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War, but North Vietnam did not become a member of AFC and FIFA until 1976.[18] Because both of them were members of FIFA (South from 1954 and North from 1964), the later unified Vietnam team is classified as the successor of them both by FIFA.[19]

The development of football during this era for both Vietnams was marked with stagnation as the Vietnam War occurred at the same time. The Vietnam War, a war that occurred between two states, had a tremendous impact and delayed the development of football in the country. Because of the war, Vietnam, by then, a major football force in Asia, started losing its reputation as the war ruined the country. Thus, the conflict had greatly reduced Vietnamese football ability and weakened the country seriously. However, the following Cambodian–Vietnamese War and Sino-Vietnamese War, and global sanctions against the country, had depleted the nation's football team and turned Vietnam into one of the weakest teams in the world and Asia overall. For this reason, Vietnamese football can be still considered new and unknown for the rest of the world, in spite of its long standing history as Vietnam only rejoined global football in 1991.

Vietnam's professional football league, known as the All Vietnam Football Championship, was launched in 1980 to redevelop Vietnamese football after a long period of civil war. In 1989, following the Đổi Mới reforms, a new football federation was formed. Vietnamese sports began to return to international events. After three months of preparation, in August 1989, the First Congress of the new football federation took place in Hanoi, declaring the formation of the Vietnam Football Federation. Trịnh Ngọc Chữ, deputy minister of General Department of Sports, was elected as the first president of VFF.[20] The reunified Vietnam national football team then played their first match against the Philippines in 1991 where they had a draw.[21]

Vietnam participated in the country's first ever FIFA World Cup qualification in 1994 World Cup campaign for the first time as an unified nation, having participated in the 1974 qualification as South Vietnam. The national side at the time was not successful in World Cup campaigns, failing in both the 1994 and 1998 qualifications with only one win.

In 1996, Vietnam participated in the first Tiger Cup where they finished in third place and hosted the second Tiger Cup in 1998 where they lost 0–1 to Singapore in the final. From 2000 to 2007, Vietnam continued their quest to win the Southeast Asian trophy, but often ended short by losing in the semi-finals or being eliminated in the group stage. Also around 1996, Vietnam gained international headline for inviting Italian giant Juventus F.C. to play in a friendly match in Hanoi, with Juventus already lifted the recent 1995–96 UEFA Champions League title. The game, which Vietnam lost 1–2, was a watershed moment that boosted the development of football in the country.[22]

Vietnam was the host of the 1999 Dunhill Cup, a friendly tournament for both senior and U-23 players. Since it was categorized as a mingled senior and U-23 competition, some national teams had decided to participate using its senior reserve side. In this competition, Vietnam created a promising performance, including a shock win over then-1994 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1996 participant Russia 1–0 and drawing with 1998 FIFA World Cup participant Iran 2–2 and topping the group. Vietnam was then eliminated in the semi-finals after a 1–4 defeat to China.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification had some of Vietnam's few bright moments during these World Cup campaigns, with the team winning three matches and drawing one, both played in Dammam. However, with the team having lost against Saudi Arabia, Vietnam did not qualify for the World Cup. The 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification was also unsuccessful, with Vietnam falling to South Korea and Oman, but managing to create a shock 1–0 win to 2002 FIFA World Cup's fourth-place winner South Korea in Muscat, which remains as one of Vietnam's greatest football feats since unification.[23] The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification had been extremely depressing for Vietnam, with the team once again failing, falling behind South Korea and Lebanon, and only staying above Maldives by goal difference.

Scenes during the final of 2008 AFF Championship. Clockwise from top: Vietnamese supporters during Vietnam's triumph, Vietnamese team receiving the cup and Vietnamese team before the second leg final matches.

D. Hồng Sơn

V. Như Thành

L. Phước Tứ

Đ. Việt Cường

H. Quang Thanh

Ng. Minh Châu

Ph. V. Tài Em

L. Tấn Tài

Ng. Vũ Phong

Ng. Việt Thắng

L. Công Vinh

2008 AFF Championship champion second-leg finals starting line-up.

Vietnam hosted the 2007 AFC Asian Cup along with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand; despite failing to qualify for the Asian Cup since the 1990s. The team was ranked second lowest only after Malaysia, but in the group stage, Vietnam created shock by defeating the UAE 2–0, drawing 1–1 with another Gulf team, Qatar, before losing 1–4 to defending champions Japan. Vietnam were the only Southeast Asian and host team to reach the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual champions Iraq 0–2.[24] This marked the beginning of the first Vietnamese football renaissance.

Vietnam won their first AFF Championship title in 2008, in which they were held in Group B with Thailand, Malaysia and Laos. After losing to Thailand 0–2 in the opener, Vietnam defeated Malaysia 3–2 and Laos 4–0. In the semi-finals, Vietnam held the defending champion Singapore to 0–0 in the home match before winning 1–0 away. Vietnam met Thailand again in the finals and defeated them 3–2 by aggregate, winning the away match 2–1 then drawing 1–1 at home.[25] This would be the team's first international honour since rejoining global football, and it would take 10 years until the team repeated this feat.

Vietnam almost managed a successful 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification when Vietnam performed well against Syria and Lebanon, as well as against the neighbour China; but the shortcoming on scoring goals once again proved to be instrumental on denying Vietnam's qualification to 2011 AFC Asian Cup, as the team finished third with only a single 3–1 home win over Lebanon[26] and two draws away to both Levant opponents Syria and Lebanon. Despite losing all two matches against China, including the huge loss 1–6 in Hangzhou, Vietnam still scored at least one single goal in both games.

The period between 2009 and 2014 witnessed the decline of Vietnamese football. The team participated in 2010, 2014 World Cup qualifiers and 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers, but were unsuccessful and accepted the early elimination. The team loss 0–6 on aggregate against the United Arab Emirates in the first round of 2010 World Cup qualification. In the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Vietnam could only defeated Macau in the first round, before being eliminated by Qatar in the second round. The worst of this decline was in 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers where Vietnam lost five among six games and finished at the bottom place of the group including the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong.

Along with the poor performance in the continental qualification, Vietnam suffered a setback in the regional tournament. The team had lost Malaysia, who later became the champion, in the 2010 AFF Championship semi-final. The 2012 AFF Championship even brought a worse disaster for Vietnam when the team was eliminated in the group stage and only obtained a 1–1 draw against Myanmar, while losing 1–3 to Thailand and 0–1 to Philippines.

The national team of Vietnam started to witness significant changes under the tenure of Toshiya Miura, who took charge of Vietnam from 2014 to 2016. The Japanese coach was accredited for rebuilding the national team of Vietnam after the failed 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification, and had a significant impact on the improvement of the team's performances. One of the most renowned achievement under Miura's era was with the youth team, when the Olympic side managed to cruise pass Olympic Iran, a major Asian force, at the 2014 Asian Games with an unthinkable 4–1 victory.[27] Many of these young players nurtured by coach Miura would be brought to senior side, where the team managed a fine performance in 2014 AFF Championship, but Vietnam failed to progress beyond the semi-finals after suffering a shock 2–4 defeat to Malaysia right at home,[28] in spite of winning 2–1 away before.[29] Vietnamese police had sought to investigate this match, but found no evidence of rigged bribery or corruption as also stated in the findings of Swiss-based international supplier betting services Sportradar.[30][31]

Miura led Vietnam in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers when Vietnam was grouped together with Thailand, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Iraq; Indonesia later was banned to participate by FIFA. Vietnam managed a fine performance, drawing Iraq 1–1 at home.[32] However, two disappointing defeats to Thailand away 0–1[33] and humiliating 0–3 home loss to the same opponent[34] had put the team under heavy criticism. Toshiya Miura, despite improvement, was sacked by the VFF after the Olympic side's failure to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics.[35]

Hope was put into new coach, Nguyễn Hữu Thắng, some of the first fine Vietnamese managers during the era. Under Nguyễn Hữu Thắng, Vietnam once again progressed to the semi-finals of 2016 AFF Championship, but the team had to bow down to Indonesia in another thrilling semi-finals, being held 2–2 at home[36] and previously lost 1–2 away to the same rival.[37] The team's disappointment somehow relieved a little, as the Golden Star Warriors participated in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification for finishing third in their World Cup qualification group. The Vietnamese side managed two draws in their opening run against Afghanistan in Tajikistan[38] and a goalless draw to Jordan in Ho Chi Minh City.[39] However, the Olympic side was shockingly eliminated in the group stage of 2017 SEA Games, coach Nguyễn Hữu Thắng was relieved from duty, and the team faced a tremendous crisis of confidence as fans have lost their will to support the team.[40] Interim coach Mai Đức Chung was appointed to help Vietnam in two crucial Asian Cup qualification match against neighbour Cambodia, in which coach Mai Đức Chung was able to revive some of the team's lost spirit, beating Cambodia 2–1 away and a thrashing 5–0 win at home.[41] These wins allowed Vietnam to join top two for final tickets.

Vietnamese national team's squad before facing Iran at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Đ. Văn Lâm

Tr. Đình Trọng

Đ. Duy Mạnh

Q. Ngọc Hải

Ng. Trọng Hoàng

Đ. Văn Hậu

Ng. Huy Hùng

Đ. Hùng Dũng

Ng. Quang Hải

Ph. Văn Đức

Ng. Anh Đức

2018 AFF Championship champion second-leg finals starting line-up.[42]

Scenes during the quarter-finals of 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Clockwise from top: Vietnamese team with Japan at the cup quarter-finals and Vietnamese fans during the match.

Park Hang-seo, former assistant of Guus Hiddink during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, was appointed as new coach of Vietnam in 11 October 2017 after an attempt to negotiate with Takashi Sekizuka was unsuccessful; previously the VFF also tried contact with American manager Steve Sampson with no avail.[43] Upon his arrival to Vietnam, Park Hang-seo was greeted with skepticism and jeers from Vietnamese.[44]

Park's first match as coach of Vietnam was in the same 2019 Asian Cup qualification, where Vietnam held Afghanistan at home in a 0–0 draw on 14 November 2017, thus allowed Vietnam to qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, their first ever Asian Cup since 2007.[45] Park himself, though, was criticized due to the team's unconvincing performance.[46] However, the mood rapidly changed after Vietnam youth team's unbelievable achievements in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship and 2018 Asian Games where Park Hang-seo was also the coach of the U-23 and Olympic team.[47] With the same U-23 players, he formed the squad of Vietnamese senior team in a meaningless 1–1 draw to Jordan in 2019 Asian Cup qualification, which both teams qualified together.[48]

Also with these young players, the 2018 AFF Championship became Vietnam's second AFF Championship title. In Group A, Vietnam managed 3 victories against Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia and a draw with Myanmar. In the semi-finals, they defeated the Philippines twice, and in the finals defeated Malaysia 3–2 aggregated, drawing 2–2 away and winning 1–0 home.[49]

It wasn't until the 2019 AFC Asian Cup that Vietnam truly began to gain international recognition. With entire of squad made up with the successful U-23 players, Vietnam had the youngest squad in the tournament. Being drawn into group D including Iran, Iraq and Yemen, Vietnam had lost Iraq 2-3 and Iran 0-2 before beating Yemen in their final group matches to become the last best-fourth place team qualifying for the round of sixteen. Then, they surprised everyone by defeating favoured Jordan which had previously defeated defending champions Australia and earlier played a friendly match against 2018 FIFA World Cup runners-up Croatia, winning 4–2 in penalty shoot-out.[50] The win sent million of Vietnamese into the street for celebrations.[51] In the quarter-finals, Vietnam met Japan but failed to continue the success after their opponent being awarded a penalty kick which being decided through the video assistant referee (VAR), resulting to a 0–1 score by Ritsu Doan until the final whistle being blown.[52]

Vietnam was grouped in the Qualifying Second Round Group G with three other Southeast Asian rivals: Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, alongside with the United Arab Emirates. The Vietnamese started with a 0–0 away draw over Thailand[53] before defeating Malaysia 1–0 at home[54] and then achieving a 3–1 away win against Indonesia.[55] In November 2019, Vietnam faced up the United Arab Emirates at home soil with attempts to break 12-year winless streak to the opponent. In spite of facing struggle in early minutes, a following red card to the UAE gave the Vietnamese an advantage, eventually managed to beat the Emirates 1–0.[56] Then, Vietnam moved to a thrilling encounter against neighbour and fellow powerhouse Thailand at home, where both teams played out in another goalless draw, in a match with a crucial Akinfeev-penalty like save by Đặng Văn Lâm and two disallowed Vietnamese goals, to foster Vietnam's top position in the Joint World Cup/Asian Cup qualifying Group G.[57]

However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam was forced to play all their remaining qualifying second-round games in the United Arab Emirates. In this campaign, Vietnam suffered a great loss of key players, as the midfield soul Đỗ Hùng Dũng suffered from a severe injury in 2021 V.League 1 that caused him 6-months recession, while best goalie Đặng Văn Lâm, due to an unexpected incident related to COVID-19 in his Japanese club Cerezo Osaka, could not come to the national team in Dubai, the key midfielder Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, after suffered an aggressive tackle from an Indonesian player in the 20th minute of the first match, must miss the rest of the qualifying second round. Nevertheless, even with such great loss, Vietnam campaign in UAE was an astonishing success. Vietnam pounded Indonesia 4–0 and held on to a 2–1 win against Malaysia. On the last match day, Vietnam battled it out in a thrilling encounter against hosts, UAE. After trailing 3–0, a late surge in the final 10 minutes brought 2 goals on the scoresheet for Vietnam, but it wasn't enough as the match ended 3–2 in favor of UAE. Despite losing however, with Australia claiming a 1–0 win over Jordan in the decisive game of group B, Vietnam officially claimed its ticket into the third and final round of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever, as well as automatic qualification to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China, after entering as one of the five best runner-ups, the second Southeast Asian nation after Thailand to achieve the feat.[58][59]

Vietnam's current kit sponsor is Grand Sport. The contract started in January 2015 which will end by the end of December 2019 but extended until 2023. Vietnam was also previously sponsored by Adidas, Li-Ning and Nike. The traditional home colour for the Vietnamese team is all red with yellow trim and the away colour is all white with red trim ever since they started the contract with Nike. With Adidas, it was just red and white. Occasionally, the team wore blue and yellow jerseys.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vietnam national football team.

Primary sponsors include: Honda,[61] Yanmar,[62] Grand Sport,[63] Sony,[64] Bia Saigon,[65] Acecook,[66] Coca-Cola,[67] Vinamilk,[68] Kao Vietnam,[69] Herbalife Nutrition[70] and TNI Corporation.[71]

Player Nguyễn Tuấn Anh in his training jersey. The flag of Vietnam is printed on team's training jersey, while the logo of VFF is printed on the bag of players.

Unlike many national teams in the world, Vietnam is one of the few football teams to not feature their federation (VFF) logo, or logo that is styled from national emblem/coat of arms such as Germany, Spain, Australia or Poland at their jersey, but rather the national flag. The few other AFC members to not feature the logo includes Palestine, Syria, North Korea and is the only Southeast Asian team to not feature the logo. The logo of VFF is used on team's gears (hats, bags, masks, coat,...) and in products of multimedia for team.

Despite the country unveiling a logo of dragon for the national football team in 2017, it was not incorporated onto the national jersey due to the majority of negative responses from media and supporters.[72] Furthermore, the dragon logo was intended only for the men's national team at first, this would be unreasonable if it was also incorporated onto the national jerseys and the uniforms of other teams (women's teams, youth teams, futsal teams, beach soccer teams). Finally, VFF removed it.

The national team of Vietnam officially has no nickname. They have been known by several self-named nicknames by fans and media. The most commonly used are the Những Chiến binh Sao vàng (Golden star warriors) which is derived from the star of the national flag on the team's jersey.[73] It's also being used by media outlets of VFF.[74][3] The local media and people in Vietnam also refer the national team as simply "Tuyển" (The selection).[75]

Vietnamese supporters during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, in all red and yellow star attire similar as in the colour of the flag of Vietnam.

There are two major supporters' clubs for the national team, namely Vietnam Football Supporters (VFS, Vietnamese: Hội Cổ động viên Bóng đá Việt Nam) which was founded in 2014 and Vietnam Golden Stars (VGS, Vietnamese: Hội Cổ động viên Sao vàng Việt Nam) which was founded in 2017.

When the national team won big matches, the streets are often overwhelmed by large Vietnamese crowds, demonstrating nationalist chants, singing Vietnamese nationalist songs.[13] Vietnamese passionate supporters have been witnessed during 2007 AFC Asian Cup when the team defeated the UAE 2–0 and later, the lone Southeast Asian side to sneak into the quarter-finals.[76] During the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Vietnamese fans were euphoric in celebration after beating Jordan in the round of sixteen.[77]

Even in smaller tournaments, Vietnamese fans are also noted for large celebrations, such as when Vietnam won the 2008, 2018 AFF Championships, and 2018 AFC U-23 Championship in which their team finished runners-up after losing the final against Uzbekistan.[78]

Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Nam Từ Liêm, Hanoi, Vietnam

The Vietnamese national team mainly plays at Mỹ Đình National Stadium, although other venues are also used. The team played at Hàng Đẫy Stadium against Cambodia, which is also located in Hanoi, in the last match of 2018 AFF Championship group stage. Other used venues are Thống Nhất, Cần Thơ, Lạch Tray and Gò Đậu Stadium.

Home stadiums
Image	Stadium	Capacity	Location
	Mỹ Đình National Stadium	40,192	Nam Từ Liêm, Hanoi, Vietnam
	Hàng Đẫy Stadium	22,500	Hanoi, Vietnam
	Lạch Tray Stadium	28,000	Hai Phong, Vietnam
	Thống Nhất Stadium	40,000	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
	Cần Thơ Stadium	60,000	Lê Lợi Boulevard, Ninh Kiều District, Cần Thơ
	Gò Đậu Stadium	18,250	Thu Dau Mot, Vietnam

In the past, Vietnam did not have any specific training centre for the national team, which forced them to practice sporadically at different facilities, contributing to their lack of success. The team previously used the facilities of VFF youth football training centre, or borrowed the training centres of various V.League 1 clubs.[79] However, since 2017, the country's first ever football training centre, known as PVF Training Centre was established in Hưng Yên to improve the national team's performance.[80] Former Manchester United star and current Wales coach, Ryan Giggs was appointed as the first director of the centre alongside Paul Scholes.[81]

Thailand is often considered Vietnam's traditional and biggest rival. The matches between these two teams are always likened to the "El Clasico" of Southeast Asian football and are followed with much interest in both countries. Vietnam as South Vietnam first faced Thailand at the 1959 Southeast Asian Games and won the 2 matches, in the group stage and the final. Despite currently having the better overall record compared with Thailand with 23 wins, 10 draws and 18 losses after 51 matches, Vietnam has generally poor results against Thailand since its reintegration into international football in 1991. After the match between two teams in November 2019 in the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, Vietnam has faced Thailand in 24 matches at the national team level since 1991, the overall results being 3 wins, 6 draws and 15 losses. Despite this, Vietnam, since reintegration to world's football, is renowned for its performance that punching above the weight, often due to its ability to culminate surprise results despite disadvantages, while Thailand has struggled harder to do the same.

Vietnam's most memorable win against Thailand was in the final of the 2008 AFF Championship, when a 2–1 win in the first leg in Bangkok set them up for their first ever title, which they secured after a 1–1 draw in Hanoi.[82]

Vietnam and neighbors Indonesia have faced each other in 38 matches, with Vietnam having the poorer record with 12 wins, 10 draws and 16 losses. During the 20-year period from 1999 to 2019, Vietnam only drew and lost against Indonesia in official tournaments. This series of winless matches began after the 1–0 win over Indonesia in 1999 in the semi-finals of the 1999 SEA Games, and lasted 13 matches, with 7 draws and 5 losses, and finally ended on 15 October 2019 when Vietnam won 3–1 against Indonesia by their third match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification's second round in Bali.

While Singapore was still a force in the AFF until 2012, this team was also a big rival of Vietnam. They have faced each other in 39 matches, with Vietnam dominating with 21 wins, 13 draws and 5 losses. Since just reintegrating with international football in 1991, Vietnam experienced, in the period from 1993 to 1998, poorer head-to-head record against Singapore; especially the failure in the 1998 AFF Championship final. However, since 1998, Vietnam has been maintaining a series of unbeaten matches against Singapore until now. It is worth noting that Vietnam's winning matches in this period against Singapore have never exceeded 1 goal and there were 6 out of the 12 matches that had drawn results, although Vietnam still won in the remaining 6 matches.

As South Vietnam, the Vietnamese side had a poorer performance, with only 3 wins, 3 draws and 7 losses, during that time the Malaysians posed as a formidable side in Asia. Since reintegration, however, Vietnam has overwhelmed in the head-to-head record against Malaysia with 13 wins, 3 draws and only 6 losses since 1991. Vietnam has also been maintaining the series of unbeaten match against Malaysia since 2014.

The following 30 players were called up for the 2020 AFF Championship in  Singapore from 5 December 2021 to 1 January 2022.
Caps and goals as of 15 December 2021 after the match against  Indonesia.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Bùi Tấn Trường	(1986-02-19) 19 February 1986	15	0	Hà Nội
23	1GK	Trần Nguyên Mạnh	(1991-12-20) 20 December 1991	27	0	Viettel
25	1GK	Nguyễn Văn Hoàng	(1995-02-17) 17 February 1995	1	0	Sông Lam Nghệ An
30	1GK	Quan Văn Chuẩn	(2001-01-07) 7 January 2001	0	0	Hà Nội
2	2DF	Đỗ Duy Mạnh (vice-captain)	(1996-09-29) 29 September 1996	38	1	Hà Nội
3	2DF	Quế Ngọc Hải (Captain)	(1993-05-15) 15 May 1993	58	4	Viettel
4	2DF	Bùi Tiến Dũng	(1995-10-02) 2 October 1995	36	0	Viettel
5	2DF	Phạm Xuân Mạnh	(1996-02-09) 9 February 1996	1	0	Sông Lam Nghệ An
12	2DF	Nguyễn Thanh Bình	(2000-11-02) 2 November 2000	2	0	Viettel
13	2DF	Hồ Tấn Tài	(1997-11-06) 6 November 1997	5	1	Topenland Bình Định
16	2DF	Nguyễn Thành Chung	(1997-09-08) 8 September 1997	10	0	Hà Nội
17	2DF	Vũ Văn Thanh	(1996-04-14) 14 April 1996	29	3	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
21	2DF	Trần Đình Trọng	(1997-04-25) 25 April 1997	11	0	Hà Nội
24	2DF	Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh	(1999-01-01) 1 January 1999	1	0	Hà Nội
26	2DF	Đỗ Thanh Thịnh	(1998-08-18) 18 August 1998	0	0	SHB Đà Nẵng
6	3MF	Lương Xuân Trường (vice-captain)	(1995-04-28) 28 April 1995	39	1	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
7	3MF	Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy	(1996-06-13) 13 June 1996	24	0	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
8	3MF	Trần Minh Vương	(1995-03-28) 28 March 1995	6	1	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
11	3MF	Nguyễn Tuấn Anh	(1995-05-16) 16 May 1995	21	1	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
14	3MF	Nguyễn Hoàng Đức	(1998-01-11) 11 January 1998	14	1	Viettel
15	3MF	Phạm Đức Huy (vice-captain)	(1995-01-20) 20 January 1995	15	2	Hà Nội
19	3MF	Nguyễn Quang Hải	(1997-04-12) 12 April 1997	37	9	Hà Nội
20	3MF	Phan Văn Đức	(1996-04-11) 11 April 1996	27	3	Sông Lam Nghệ An
27	3MF	Lê Văn Xuân	(1999-02-27) 27 February 1999	1	0	Hà Nội
28	3MF	Lý Công Hoàng Anh	(1999-12-01) 1 December 1999	1	0	Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh
9	4FW	Nguyễn Văn Toàn	(1996-04-12) 12 April 1996	39	4	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
10	4FW	Nguyễn Công Phượng	(1995-01-21) 21 January 1995	45	11	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
18	4FW	Hà Đức Chinh	(1997-09-22) 22 September 1997	14	0	SHB Đà Nẵng
22	4FW	Nguyễn Tiến Linh	(1997-10-20) 20 October 1997	25	9	Becamex Bình Dương
29	4FW	Trần Văn Đạt	(2000-12-26) 26 December 2000	0	0	Hà Nội

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Phạm Văn Cường	(1990-07-19) 19 July 1990	0	0	Hồ Chí Minh City	2020 AFF Championship PRE
GK	Nguyễn Văn Toản	(1999-11-26) 26 November 1999	2	0	Hải Phòng	v.  Japan, 11 November 2021 PRE INJ
GK	Đặng Văn Lâm	(1993-08-13) 13 August 1993	24	0	Cerezo Osaka	v.  Australia, 7 September 2021 INJ
GK	Phạm Văn Phong	(1993-06-03) 3 June 1993	0	0	Sài Gòn	May 2021 centralized training
DF	Trần Văn Kiên	(1996-05-13) 13 May 1996	1	0	Hà Nội	September 2021 centralized training
DF	Trương Văn Thiết	(1995-06-07) 7 June 1995	0	0	Viettel	September 2021 centralized training
DF	Đoàn Văn Hậu	(1999-04-19) 19 April 1999	27	0	Hà Nội	August 2021 centralized training INJ
DF	Dương Thanh Hào	(1991-06-23) 23 June 1991	15	0	Topenland Bình Định	May 2021 centralized training
DF	Nguyễn Minh Tùng	(1992-08-09) 9 August 1992	3	0	Đông Á Thanh Hóa	May 2021 centralized training
MF	Đỗ Hùng Dũng	(1993-09-08) 8 September 1993	19	0	Hà Nội	2020 AFF Championship OTH
MF	Lê Văn Đô	(2001-08-07) 7 August 2001	0	0	SHB Đà Nẵng	2020 AFF Championship PRE
MF	Nguyễn Trọng Đại	(1997-04-07) 7 April 1997	0	0	Viettel	September 2021 centralized training
MF	Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng	(1989-04-14) 14 April 1989	74	12	Viettel	September 2021 centralized training INJ
MF	Lê Tiến Anh	(1998-03-23) 23 March 1998	0	0	Topenland Bình Định	v.  Saudi Arabia, 2 September 2021 PRE
MF	Nguyễn Hai Long	(2000-08-27) 27 August 2000	1	0	Hà Nội	v.  Jordan, 31 May 2021 INJ
MF	Võ Huy Toàn	(1993-03-15) 15 March 1993	8	1	Hồ Chí Minh City	May 2021 centralized training
MF	Tô Văn Vũ	(1993-10-20) 20 October 1993	0	0	Becamex Bình Dương	May 2021 centralized training
MF	Đặng Anh Tuấn	(1994-08-01) 1 August 1994	0	0	SHB Đà Nẵng	May 2021 centralized training
MF	Phan Văn Long	(1996-06-01) 1 June 1996	0	0	SHB Đà Nẵng	May 2021 centralized training
MF	Cao Văn Triền	(1993-06-18) 18 June 1993	0	0	Sài Gòn	May 2021 centralized training
FW	Phạm Tuấn Hải	(1998-05-19) 19 May 1998	1	0	Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh	2020 AFF Championship PRE
FW	Hồ Thanh Minh	(2000-02-07) 7 February 2000	0	0	Huế	2020 AFF Championship PRE
FW	Nhâm Mạnh Dũng	(2000-04-12) 12 April 2000	0	0	Viettel	v.  Japan, 11 November 2021 PRE
FW	Nguyễn Xuân Nam	(1994-01-18) 18 January 1994	0	0	Topenland Bình Định	September 2021 centralized training
FW	Trần Đình Kha	(1994-03-21) 21 March 1994	0	0	Topenland Bình Định	September 2021 centralized training
FW	Hồ Tuấn Tài	(1995-03-16) 16 March 1995	1	0	Hồ Chí Minh City	v.  Saudi Arabia, 2 September 2021 PRE
FW	Nguyễn Anh Đức	(1985-10-24) 24 October 1985	36	12	Long An	May 2021 centralized training
PRE Preliminary squad INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. OTH Player withdrew from the squad due to other reason.

Vietnam holds a spectacular distinction in the competition by having tendency of facing future finalists of the AFC Asian Cup, having implemented so in all four editions, with South Korea and Iraq emerged winners after facing Vietnam, and Japan finished runners-up. Moreover, the country also holds a distinction of being drawn to face the AFC's number 1 team or Asian champions following by FIFA Ranking in all competitions they participated (South Korea in 1956 and 1960, Japan in 2007 and Iran in 2019).

AFC Asian Cup record											AFC Asian Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1956	Fourth place	4/4	3	0	1	2	6	9	Squad		2	0	1	1	7	3
1960	Fourth place	4/4	3	0	0	3	2	12	Squad		2	2	0	0	5	1
1964	Did not qualify										3	2	0	1	9	7
1968											4	2	0	2	4	4
1972	Withdrew										Withdrew
1976	Did not qualify										4	0	0	4	1	10
1980	Did not enter										Did not enter
1984
1988
1992
1996	Did not qualify										3	2	0	1	13	5
2000											3	2	0	1	14	2
2004											6	3	0	3	8	13
2007	Quarter-finals	8/16	4	1	1	2	4	7	Squad		Host
2011	Did not qualify										6	1	2	3	6	11
2015											6	1	0	5	5	15
2019	Quarter-finals	8/24	5	1	1	3	5	7	Squad		12	4	5	3	16	11
2023	Qualified										8	5	2	1	13	5
Total	Best: Fourth place	5/17	15	2	3	10	17	35	—		59	24	10	25	101	87

AFC Asian Cup History
Season	Round	Opponent	Scores	Result	Venue
1956	Group stage	Hong Kong	2–2	Draw	Hong Kong
		Israel	1–2	Loss
		South Korea	3–5	Loss
1960	Group stage	South Korea	1–5	Loss	Seoul, South Korea
		Republic of China	0–2	Loss
		Israel	1–5	Loss
2007	Group stage	United Arab Emirates	2–0	Won	Hanoi, Vietnam
		Qatar	1–1	Draw
		Japan	1–4	Loss
	Quarter-finals	Iraq	0–2	Loss	Bangkok, Thailand
2019	Group stage	Iraq	2–3	Loss	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
		Iran	0–2	Loss
		Yemen	2–0	Won	Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
	Round of 16	Jordan	1–1 a.e.t (pens. 4–2)	Won	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
	Quarter-finals	Japan	0–1	Loss

Since 2002, the Asian Games Football tournament uses the Olympic team. See: Vietnam national Olympic football team

Asian Games record										Coach(es)
Year	Result	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951	Did not participate									Did not participate
1954 to 1974	See South Vietnam									See South Vietnam
1978 to 1994	Did not enter									Did not enter
1998	Group stage	17/23	2	0	0	2	0	6		Alfred Riedl
Total	Best: Group Stage	1/13	2	0	0	2	0	6		—

Asian Games History
Season	Round	Opponent	Scores	Result	Venue
1998	Group stage	Turkmenistan	0–2	Loss	Nakhon Sawan, Thailand
		South Korea	0–4	Loss

Since 2001, the SEA Games football competition has only allowed the olympic side to participate. See: Vietnam national Olympic football team

Southeast Asian Games record										Coach(es)
Year	Result	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1959 to 1973	See South Vietnam									See South Vietnam
1975 to 1989	Did not enter									Did not enter
1991	Group stage	6/7	3	0	1	2	3	5		Nguyễn Sỹ Hiển
1993	Group stage	6/9	3	1	0	2	1	3		Trần Bình Sự
1995	Runners-up	2/10	6	4	0	2	10	8		Karl-Heinz Weigang
1997	Third place	3/10	6	3	1	2	9	6		Colin Murphy
1999	Runners-up	2/10	6	4	1	1	14	2		Alfred Riedl
Total	Best: Runners-up	5/20	24	12	3	9	37	24		—