# 2021 V.League 1

The 2021 V.League 1 (known as the LS V.League 1 for sponsorship reasons) was the 38th season of the V.League 1, the highest division of Vietnamese football and the 21st as a professional league.
The season was paused for a third time on 6 May 2021 due to an outbreak of the delta variant of the coronavirus in the country.
Despite attempts to re-start the season by late November, after a meeting with all teams on August 21, the season was officially cancelled, with no champion determined, and no relegation teams; the slots for the 2022 AFC Champions League and 2022 AFC Cup to be determined at a later stage. Due to cancellation of the league, LS Group was lost sponsors due to issues, and awarded from Sâm Ngọc Linh Kon Tum to sponsors on next season.

## Competition format

The league was scheduled to operate in two stages, with the top six teams and bottom 8 teams split into two play-off sections after a single-round robin first stage. The season was cancelled before the completion of the first stage.

## Teams

A total of 14 teams contested the league, including 13 sides from the 2020 season and Topenland Binh Dinh promoted from the 2020 V.League 2 season.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Previous season rank |
| Topenland Binh Dinh | Binh Dinh | Quy Nhon | 15,000 | VL2 (1st) |
| Becamex Binh Duong | Binh Duong | Go Dau | 13,035 | VL1 (6th) |
| SHB Danang | Danang | Hoa Xuan | 20,000 | VL1 (9th) |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Gia Lai | Pleiku | 12,000 | VL1 (7th) |
| Haiphong FC | Haiphong | Lach Tray | 25,000 | VL1 (12th) |
| Hanoi FC | Hanoi | Hang Day | 22,500 | VL1 (2nd) |
| Viettel | Hanoi | Hang Day | 22,500 | VL1 (1st) |
| Hong Linh Ha Tinh | Ha Tinh | Ha Tinh | 20,000 | VL1 (8th) |
| Ho Chi Minh City FC | Ho Chi Minh City | Thong Nhat | 16,000 | VL1 (5th) |
| Saigon FC | Ho Chi Minh City | Thong Nhat | 16,000 | VL1 (3rd) |
| Nam Dinh FC | Nam Dinh | Thien Truong | 30,000 | VL1 (13th) |
| Song Lam Nghe An | Nghe An | Vinh | 18,000 | VL1 (10th) |
| Than Quang Ninh | Quang Ninh | Cam Pha | 20,000 | VL1 (4th) |
| Dong A Thanh Hoa | Thanh Hoa | Thanh Hoa | 12,000 | VL1 (11th) |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
| TopenLand Binh Dinh | Nguyễn Đức Thắng | Bùi Văn Hiếu | Kamito |
| Becamex Binh Duong | Nguyễn Thanh Sơn (caretaker) | Pape Omar Faye | Kamito |
| SHB Da Nang | Phan Thanh Hùng | Đặng Anh Tuấn | Kamito |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Kiatisuk Senamuang | Lương Xuân Trường | Mizuno |
| Haiphong FC | Phạm Anh Tuấn | Andre Fagan | Jogarbola |
| Hanoi FC | Park Choong-kyun | Nguyễn Văn Quyết | Jogarbola |
| Viettel | Trương Việt Hoàng | Bùi Tiến Dũng | FBT |
| Hong Linh Ha Tinh | Nguyễn Thành Công | Trần Phi Sơn | Kelme |
| Ho Chi Minh City FC | Alexandré Pölking | Sầm Ngọc Đức | Kelme |
| Saigon FC | Phùng Thanh Phương | Daisuke Matsui | Made by club |
| Nam Dinh FC | Nguyễn Văn Sỹ | Lâm Anh Quang | Kelme |
| Song Lam Nghe An | Nguyễn Huy Hoàng (caretaker) | Hoàng Văn Khánh | Mitre |
| Than Quang Ninh | Hoàng Thọ | Phạm Nguyên Sa | Joma |
| Dong A Thanh Hoa | Ljupko Petrović | Hoàng Đình Tùng | Jogarbola |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Duong Minh Ninh Nguyen Van Dan | Mutual consent | November 2020 | Pre-season | Kiatisuk Senamuang | November 2020 |
| Ho Chi Minh City FC | Jung Hae-seong | Resigned | 12 November 2020 | Pre-season | Alexandré Pölking | 2 December 2020 |
| Dong A Thanh Hoa | Mai Xuân Hợp | Mutual consent | 26 November 2020 | Pre-season | Ljupko Petrović | 26 November 2020 |
| Nam Dinh FC | Pham Hong Phu | Mutual consent | 14 December 2020 | Pre-season | Nguyen Van Sy | 14 December 2020 |
| Than Quang Ninh | Phan Thanh Hùng | Resigned | 16 December 2020 | Pre-season | Hoang Tho | 16 December 2020 |
| Becamex Binh Duong | Nguyen Thanh Son | Mutual consent | 19 December 2020 | Pre-season | Phan Thanh Hùng | 23 December 2020 |
| Saigon FC | Vu Tien Thanh | Mutual consent | 24 February 2021 | 4th | Masahiro Shimoda | 25 February 2021 |
| Saigon FC | Masahiro Shimoda | Sacked | 30 March 2021 | 11th | Phung Thanh Phuong | 30 March 2021 |
| Hanoi FC | Chu Dinh Nghiem | Resigned | 3 April 2021 | 7th | Hoang Van Phuc (caretaker) | 3 April 2021 |
| Hong Linh Ha Tinh | Pham Minh Duc | Resigned | 12 April 2021 | 14th | Nguyen Thanh Cong | 14 April 2021 |
| Becamex Binh Duong | Phan Thanh Hung | Resigned | 14 April 2021 | 6th | Nguyen Thanh Son (caretaker) | 14 April 2021 |
| Hanoi FC | Hoang Van Phuc (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 20 April 2021 | 8th | Park Choong-kyun | 20 April 2021 |
| Song Lam Nghe An | Ngo Quang Truong | Resigned | 30 April 2021 | 14th | Nguyen Huy Hoang (caretaker) | 30 April 2021 |
| SHB Danang | Le Huynh Duc | Resigned | 3 May 2021 | 9th | Phan Thanh Hung | 3 May 2021 |

## Foreign players

Players name in bold indicates the player was registered after the start of the season.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 (AFC Player) | Player 5 (Naturalized Vietnamese player) | Former Player |
| Topenland Binh Dinh | Hendrio | Rimario Gordon | Ahn Byung-keon | | → Tony Le |
| Becamex Binh Duong | Ali Rabo | Pape Omar Faye | Victor Mansaray | | | |
| SHB Danang | Janclesio | Rafaelson | Hedipo | | | Hedipo Papa Ibou Kébé Claudecir |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Washington Brandão | Kim Dong-su | Damir Memović | | → Suleiman Abdullahi → Steven Dang | |
| Haiphong FC | Andre Fagan | Jermie Lynch | Joseph Mpande | | → Adriano Schmidt → Andrey Nguyen → Martin Lo | Diego Silva |
| Hanoi FC | Bruno Cantanhede | Geovane Magno | Moses Oloya | | | |
| Viettel | Bruno Matos | Caíque | Pedro Paulo | Jahongir Abdumuminov | | Luizão |
| Hong Linh Ha Tinh | Chevaughn Walsh | Ismahil Akinade | Kelly Kester | | | Claudecir |
| Ho Chi Minh City FC | Brendon Lucas | Patrick Leonardo | João Paulo | | → Lee Nguyen | Papé Diakité Dário Junior Junior Barros |
| Saigon FC | Thiago Melo | Papa Ibou Kébé | Papé Diakité | Daisuke Matsui | → Gastón Merlo | Hiroyuki Takasaki Woo Sang-ho |
| Nam Dinh FC | Rodrigo Dias | Wesley dos Santos | Oussou Konan | | | Gramoz Kurtaj |
| Song Lam Nghe An | Felipe Martins | Peter Samuel Onyekachi | | | | Igor Jelić Bruno Henrique |
| Than Quang Ninh | Diogo Pereira | Eydison | Gustavo | | → Geoffrey Kizito | Patrick Leonardo |
| Dong A Thanh Hoa | Zé Paulo | Louis Ewonde | Gramoz Kurtaj | | → Samson Kayode | Chevaughn Walsh |
* ^1 Naturalized players whose parents or grandparents were born in Vietnam, thus are regarded as local players.

## First phase
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 9 | +14 | 29 | Qualification for AFC Champions League Group stage |
| 2 | Viettel | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 26 | Qualification for AFC Cup Group stage |
| 3 | Than Quang Ninh | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 19 | Withdrawn after the season's abandonment. |
| 4 | Nam Dinh FC | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 18 | |
| 5 | Dong A Thanh Hoa | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 17 | |
| 6 | Becamex Binh Duong | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 17 | |
| 7 | Hanoi FC | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 16 | |
| 8 | Topenland Binh Dinh | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 16 | |
| 9 | SHB Danang | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 16 | |
| 10 | Hong Linh Ha Tinh | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 15 | |
| 11 | Ho Chi Minh City FC | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 14 | |
| 12 | Haiphong FC | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 14 | |
| 13 | Saigon FC | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 13 | |
| 14 | Song Lam Nghe An | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 10 | |
* 1 2 After the abandonment of the season due to effects from COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, it was decided that the league's first placed team would take the AFC Champions League slot, with the AFC Cup slots to go to the second and third placed teams.
* ↑ omitted from V-League competitions for 2022, after loss of their main sponsor and other financial difficulties.

#### Positions by round

This table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches.
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Becamex Binh Duong | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Dong A Thanh Hoa | 12 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| Haiphong FC | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 12 |
| Hanoi FC | 14 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | 11 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ho Chi Minh City FC | 10 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 11 |
| Hong Linh Ha Tinh | 9 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 |
| Nam Dinh FC | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| Saigon FC | 6 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 13 |
| SHB Danang | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Song Lam Nghe An | 8 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 14 |
| Than Quang Ninh | 2 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Topenland Binh Dinh | 7 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| Viettel | 13 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BBD | DTH | HAI | HAN | HOA | HCM | HHT | NDI | SGN | SDN | SNA | TQN | TBD | VFC |
| Becamex Binh Duong | | 1–0 | 0–1 | | | — | | 4–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | | | |
| Dong A Thanh Hoa | | | 3–0 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | | 1–3 | 1–0 | | | 1–1 |
| Haiphong FC | | | | 0–2 | 0–2 | | | 3–2 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | |
| Hanoi FC | 1–2 | 3–2 | | | | | 1–1 | | 3–1 | | | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | 2–2 | | | 1–0 | | 3–0 | | 4–3 | | | 2–1 | | 2–1 | |
| Ho Chi Minh City FC | | | 3–0 | 0–3 | | | 2–0 | | 1–0 | | 3–0 | | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Hong Linh Ha Tinh | 4–2 | 3–5 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | | | 3–2 | | | | 1–2 | 1–1 | |
| Nam Dinh FC | | | | 3–0 | | 3–2 | | | | — | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Saigon FC | | — | 0–0 | | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–3 | | | 1–0 | | | |
| SHB Danang | | | | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | | 1–2 | | | 1–2 |
| Song Lam Nghe An | 2–0 | | | — | | | 0–2 | | | | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Than Quang Ninh | 1–0 | 2–0 | | | — | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | | | |
| Topenland Binh Dinh | 0–0 | 0–1 | | | | | | | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | | 0–1 |
| Viettel | 3–1 | | 0–1 | | 0–3 | | — | | 3–0 | | | 2–1 | | |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
* 1 2 Played behind closed doors due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh City and Bac Giang province.
* 1 2 Played behind closed doors due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces.

#### Season progress

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Becamex Binh Duong | W | W | L | L | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | D |
| Dong A Thanh Hoa | L | D | W | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | L | W |
| Haiphong | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | D | D | W | L |
| Hanoi FC | L | L | W | W | W | D | L | L | W | L | L | W |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D |
| Ho Chi Minh City | L | W | L | W | L | L | L | W | D | L | D | W |
| Hong Linh Ha Tinh | L | L | L | D | W | D | L | D | L | W | W | W |
| Nam Dinh | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L |
| Saigon | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | W | L |
| SHB Da Nang | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | D | L | L | L |
| Song Lam Nghe An | D | L | L | W | W | L | L | L | W | L | L | L |
| Than Quang Ninh | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | D |
| Topenland Binh Dinh | D | W | L | W | L | D | W | D | L | L | W | D |
| Viettel | L | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | W |

## Season statistics

    As of end of season

### Scoring
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nguyễn Văn Toàn | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | 7 |
| 1 | Oussou Konan | Nam Dinh | 7 |
| 1 | Rodrigo Dias | Nam Dinh | 7 |
| 4 | Eydison | Than Quang Ninh | 6 |
| 4 | Geovane | Hanoi | 6 |
| 4 | Nguyễn Công Phượng | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | 6 |
| 4 | Nguyễn Tiến Linh | Becamex Binh Duong | 6 |
| 4 | Rafaelson | SHB Da Nang | 6 |
| 9 | Lee Nguyen | Ho Chi Minh City | 5 |
| 9 | Phan Văn Đức | Song Lam Nghe An | 5 |
Source: Soccerway

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Rafaelson | SHB Da Nang | Dong A Thanh Hoa | 3–1 (A) | 29 March 2021 |
| Nguyễn Tiến Linh | Becamex Binh Duong | Nam Dinh | 4–3 (H) | 8 April 2021 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Huỳnh Tuấn Linh | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | 6 |
| 2 | Nguyễn Hoài Anh | Than Quang Ninh | 5 |
| 2 | Nguyễn Thanh Diệp | Dong A Thanh Hoa | 5 |
| 2 | Trần Nguyên Mạnh | Viettel | 5 |
| 5 | Đinh Xuân Việt | Nam Dinh | 4 |
| 5 | Phạm Văn Phong | Saigon | 4 |
| 5 | Nguyễn Tuấn Mạnh | SHB Danang | 4 |
| 5 | Trần Đình Minh Hòang | Topenland Binh Dinh | 4 |
| 5 | Trần Đức Cường | Becamex Binh Duong | 4 |
| 10 | 4 players | 4 players | 3 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club |
| January/March | Kiatisuk Senamuang | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Nguyễn Văn Tòan | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Phan Văn Đức | Song Lam Nghe An |
| April | Kiatisuk Senamuang | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Nguyễn Văn Tòan | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | Lương Xuân Trường | Hoang Anh Gia Lai |