# The Cong-Viettel FC

The Cong – Viettel Football Club (Vietnamese: Câu lạc bộ Bóng đá Thể Công – Viettel), commonly known as The Cong or by its most recent former name Viettel FC, is a Vietnamese professional football club based in Hanoi. The club is formally operated by Viettel Sports Center - an affiliation of Viettel Group - and competes in the V.League 1, the top tier of the Vietnamese football league system.
The Cong – Viettel is the modern incarnation of Thể Công, was one of the most widely supported clubs and also one of the most successful club in Vietnamese football history, having won a record 19 national titles, including 10 North Vietnam national titles and 09 titles after Vietnam's reunification, 06 of the 09 is V.League 1. The Cong also reached nine consecutive titles, from 1971 to 1979. The club has also contributed many great players to the national team.
The Cong – Viettel's traditional colour is red, leading to the nickname Cơn lốc đỏ (Red Tornado). As Thể Công, they held a long-standing rivalry with Cong An Hanoi (a club run by the Hanoi Police, not to be confused with the recently rebranded Cong An Hanoi), known as the "Hanoi Derby" or the "Vietnamese Clasico", from the mid-1950s to their dissolution in 2002. Nowadays, the derby is contested between The Cong – Viettel, Hanoi FC and the new Cong An Hanoi.

## History
### Thể Công period
#### 1954–1968: Formation and rising

On September 23, 1954, according to the appointment of the Director of the General Department of Politics at that time, General Nguyen Chi Thanh, đoàn công tác Thể dục Thể thao Quân đội (Thể Công) was established. Thể Công is short for Thể dục Thể thao Công tác Đội (Physical Education and Sports Team Work) and was managed by Ministry of Defence.
The first Thể Công team include 23 people of the cadre from The Army Officer College No1 and was divided into three teams: 11 football, 5 basketball and 6 volleyball players. In addition, all three teams also have a special reserve player, Ly Duc Kim, who knows how to play football, both basketball and volleyball, and has the ability to be a nurse and good logistics. Kim also has the above support functions.
The first main lineup of The Cong football team include: Lê Nhâm; Nguyễn Văn Hiếu; Phạm Ngọc Quế; Nguyễn Thiêm; Ngô Xuân Quýnh; Phạm Mạnh Soạn; Trương Vinh Thăng; Nguyễn Bá Khánh; Nguyễn Văn Bưởi (captain); Nguyễn Thông (player-coach); Vũ Tâm (as Phạm Vinh). Beside, Nguyen Van Thanh (as Tí Bồ) was joined later, was a famous player of the first Vietnamese footballers generation in the 1930s to 1950s period.
More than a month later, on October 25, in the first football match held since the liberation of Hanoi capital at Hang Day Stadium, The Cong had the first match in its history against Tran Hung Dao University team, including players from the capital's working class. The team won with a score of 1 - 0 with the only goal of the match being scored in the 30th second by the striker captain Nguyen Van Buoi.
In 1955, Vietnam's first football tournament was held in Hai Phong with the name Hoà Bình League (precursor of V.League 1), Thể Công was participated with two teams A and B. Both teams won championships of two A and B classes.
In 1956, for the first time, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam national football team was convened for international duty. At the age of 38, Ti Bo was still called to the national team along with nine other The Cong players to participate in his first tour in China. He became one of the first players of the Vietnamese team and the oldest Vietnamese national player ever.
During the following years, Thể Công won the champions in 1956 and 1958. At that time, Công An Hải Phòng and Công An Hà Nội has been their main and traditional rival in Northern Vietnam football. Three clubs played are also the founding members in the highest Vietnamese system league in the mid-1950s and became the Big 3 clubs in the early Vietnam football period. In 1950s and 1960s, Công An Hải Phòng was far more successful, winning ten championships, including four consecutively from 1965 to 1968, making the club became North Vietnam's record champion. Thể Công took over the title more than six years later in 1976, when they won their tenth championship in 1970 and also their last nation league trophy. The duel between Thể Công and Công An Hải Phòng was referred to as the Northern Derby, but the Hanoi Derby with Công An Hà Nội was more attention because they are always counter the Red Tornado by good defense system, who reached the champions twice in 1962 and 1964.

#### 1969–2000: Golden decade and dominance in the league

Since the 1969s to 1979s, The Cong had always dominated in national league with 10 championships in Vietnam's A Class National League, including nine consecutively from 1971 to 1979. During that time, the typical generation of The Cong players were Nguyễn Thế Anh (Ba Den), Nguyễn Cao Cường, Quan Trong Hung, Vương Tiến Dũng, Nguyễn Trọng Giáp, Vu Manh Hai,... with the majority being young players who went to long-term training in North Korea in 1967 and when they returned home, they were the most outstanding and typical players in the country.
After the country was unified and had the National Championship (the predecessor of the V-League), The Cong remained of the strongest football club in Vietnam with 5 championships during the 1980s and 1990s. The Cong players have always been the core of the national team and contributed many players in the golden generation of Vietnamese football such as goalkeeper Tran Tien Anh, Do Manh Dung, Nguyen Manh Cuong, and Nguyen Hong Son, Truong Viet Hoang, Nguyen Duc Thang, Pham Nhu Thuan, Trieu Quang Ha, Dang Phuong Nam, Vu Cong Tuyen... The Cong was the longest standing team in the V-League until the team was relegated in 2004. (In 1980, The Cong did not participate in the tournament due to internal reasons).
At that times, Công An Hà Nội was still a main rivals have been the clubs who put up the strongest fight against its national dominance. Matches with CAHN was more than a local derby with many classic wins, draws and losses. Due to Thể Công being traditionally hard to beat for CAHN though they had no any trophies for a long times.

#### 2004–2008: Relegation and promoted back

In 2004, exactly 50 years after its foundation, Thể Công football club finished V-League at 11th place (out of 12) and was relegated to the lower division. The team performed poorly partly due to the policy of not recruiting foreign soldiers, in contrast to all other teams at that time. In the following season, the club changed its name to The Cong Viettel (Viettel is the Army Electronics and Telecommunication Corporation) and is partially managed by this unit. However, many comments suggested that the club should return to its old name.
On January 19, 2007, the club finally gained the right to be promoted back to V-League after winning over Tay Ninh 5–3. Immediately thereafter, the official team name was reversed back to Thể Công.

#### 2009–2010: The end and transfer

On September 22, 2009 (before the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Thể Công) the Ministry of Defense decided to change Thể Công to Viettel. In November 2009, the Ministry of Defence decided to remove name "Thể Công" out of football in Vietnam, and transfer all management of football club from the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army to Viettel.
On September 23, 2011, on the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the establishment of the club, hundreds of officials, players, and fans of all generations who were once members of The Cong decided to launch a "campaign" to collect 1 million signatures across the country to petition the Ministry of Defense to regain the title Thể Công. However, Viettel Telecom Corporation is not very interested in this reception.
Facing the risk of being dissolved, the acting director of the Center at that time, Nguyen Thanh Hai, asked the leaders of Viettel Telecom Corporation to allow the maintenance of the Viettel Football Center and pledged to bring results in a year. In the 2010 football season, the center's teams reached the final round of the youth tournaments. In 2011, the Center won 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze Medal in youth tournaments, officially gaining the right to exist. In the 2012 football season, the official squad of Viettel Football Center won the championship with the same rank at the Vietnam Third Division Football Championship and won a place in the Second Division since the 2013 season.

### Viettel period
#### 2010–2018: Promotion

Next to 2010 season, the club again switched its name back to Viettel FC, and also voluntarily left the professional football set-up. Instead, the club decided to focus on youth development, and start competing again in the amateur 4th tier of Vietnamese football.
On October 26, 2014, the General Director of Military Telecommunications Group signed the decision No. 2294/QD-VTQ-TCNL to consolidate the functions and tasks and change the name of Viettel Football Training Center to Viettel Sports Center.
In 2016, the club finally returned to professional football after winning promotion to the V.League 2.
In 2018, Viettel won the V.League 2 and made their comeback to the national top tier V.League 1. The football club also wanted to switch back to the formerly name Thể Công when the tournament started from 2019, but was not agreed yet from the Ministry of Defence, who owned brands name "Thể Công" and were used by their volleyball team – "Câu lạc bộ bóng chuyền Thể Công" (Thể Công Volleyball Club). Therefore, the official name of the football club is Câu lạc bộ Bóng đá Viettel (Viettel Football Club) and owned by Viettel Group.

#### 2019–present: Revival

In the 2020 season, in their second season at the V.League 1 after their promotion, Viettel had a title race in the league with same city rival Hanoi FC. Despite being placed behind Hanoi FC during the first part of the season, Viettel came back in the second half of the season and climbed to the first place after the 15th matchday. They ended up securing their first place and won the championship after beating Saigon FC 1–0 with Bruno Cantanhede's only goal in the last matchday that took place in November 2020. However, in the 2020 Vietnamese Cup, the club finished as runner-up after losing 1–2 against Hanoi FC in the final. It took them only two seasons in V.League 1 to be crowned as champions after they were promoted from the 2019 season. If including the achievements of the former Thể Công, this was the 9th time that they have won the national league after the reunification of Vietnam. It is also the 19th national title of the club. The title also qualified the club for the AFC Champions League.

## Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| 2017 | Mitre | BankPlus |
| 2019 | VNA Sports | Viettel 4G Vietel Pay |
| 2020-2022 | FBT | Viettel |
| 2022–present | Li-Ning | Viettel Money Bamboo Airways MB BankViettel TV360 |

## Continental record

| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1999–2000 | Asian Club Championship | First round | Happy Valley AA | Walkover |
| 1999–2000 | Asian Club Championship | Second round | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1–1 | 0–6 | 1–7 |
| 2021 | AFC Champions League | Group F | Ulsan Hyundai | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3rd |
| 2021 | AFC Champions League | Group F | Kaya–Iloilo | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3rd |
| 2021 | AFC Champions League | Group F | BG Pathum United | 1–3 | 0–2 | 3rd |
| 2022 | AFC Cup | Group I | Young Elephants | 5–1 | 5–1 | 1st |
| 2022 | AFC Cup | Group I | Phnom Penh Crown | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1st |
| 2022 | AFC Cup | Group I | Hougang United | 5–2 | 5–2 | | 1st |
| 2022 | AFC Cup | Zonal semi-finals | Kuala Lumpur City | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–6 p) |

## Season-by-season record (V-League)

| Season | Pld | Won | Draw | Lost | GF | GA | GD | PTS | Final position | Notes |
| 1981–82 V-League | 19 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 33 | 15 | +18 | 30 | Champions | |
| 1982–83 V-League | 23 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 49 | 22 | +27 | 37 | Champions | |
| 1984 V-League | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 18 | +12 | 19 | 2nd | |
| 1985 V-League | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 20 | +8 | 21 | 4th | |
| 1986 V-League | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 26 | 2nd | |
| 1987–88 V-League | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 40 | 20 | +20 | 47 | Champions | |
| 1989 V-League | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 16 | 2nd | |
| 1990 V-League | | | | | | | | | Champions | |
| 1991 V-League | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 9 | | |
| 1992 V-League | 11 | | | | 15 | 8 | +7 | | 3rd | |
| 1993–94 V-League | | | | | | | | | 3rd | |
| 1995 V-League | | | | | | | | | 9th | |
| 1996 V-League | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 13 | 9th | |
| 1997 V-League | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 12 | 4th | |
| 1998 V-League | | | | | | | | | Champions | |
| 1999–2000 V-League | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 28 | −1 | 30 | 10th | |
| 2000–01 V-League | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 16 | +3 | 29 | 3rd | |
| 2001–02 V-League | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 23 | 7th | |
| 2003 V-League | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 32 | 6th | |
| 2004 V-League | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 39 | −19 | 20 | 11th | Relegation to 2005 V.League 2 |
| 2005 V.League 2 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 31 | −10 | 31 | 6th | |
| 2006 V.League 2 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 31 | 30 | +1 | 38 | 4th | |
| 2007 V.League 2 | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 47 | 20 | +27 | 52 | 1st | Promoted to 2008 V-League |
| 2008 V-League | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 28 | 28 | +0 | 38 | 8th | |
| 2009 V-League | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 35 | 9th | |
| 2016 V.League 2 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 31 | 12 | +19 | 32 | 2nd | |
| 2017 V.League 2 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 18 | 4th | |
| 2018 V.League 2 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 37 | 15 | +22 | 41 | 1st | Promoted to 2019 V.League 1 |
| 2019 V.League 1 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 33 | 40 | −7 | 36 | 6th | |
| 2020 V.League 1 | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 29 | 16 | +13 | 41 | Champions | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League Group stage |
| 2021 V.League 1 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 18 | 2nd | Qualification for 2022 AFC Cup Group stage |
| 2022 V.League 1 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 14 | +15 | 39 | 4th | |
| 2023 V.League 1 | 20 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 23 | 17 | +6 | 32 | 4th | |
| 2023–24 V.League 1 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 38 | 5th | |

## Honours
### National competitions
#### League

* A1 National League/V.League 1
    Winners (6; record): Winners (19; record): 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1987, 1990, 1998, 2020
    Runners-up : (4) 1984, 1989, 1986, 1992
    Third place : (4) 1993–94, 1997, 2000–01, 2023
* V.League 2:
    Winners : (2) 2007, 2018
    Runners-up : (1) 2016 (as Viettel F.C.)
* Second League: (as Viettel F.C.)
    Winners : 2015
    Runners-up : 2009
* Third League (as Viettel F.C.)
    Winners : 2008

#### Cup

* Vietnamese Cup:
    Runners-up : (5) 1992, 2004, 2009, 2020, 2023.
    Third place: 2023-24
* Vietnamese Super Cup:
    Winners : (1) 1999.
    Runners-up : (1) 2020

### Other competitions

* North Vietnam A1 League:
    Winners (13; record): 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979
* Festival Sport Vietnam
    Winners : 2002
* Army ASEAN (1)
    Winners : 2004
    Runners-up : 1999
* SKDA
    Third place : (1) 1989

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 28 February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | VIE | Ngô Xuân Sơn |
| 3 | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Thanh Bình |
| 4 | DF | VIE | Bùi Tiến Dũng (captain) |
| 5 | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Minh Tùng |
| 6 | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Công Phương |
| 7 | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Đức Chiến (vice-captain) |
| 8 | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Hữu Thắng |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Amarildo |
| 10 | FW | BRA | Pedro Henrique |
| 11 | MF | VIE | Khuất Văn Khang |
| 12 | DF | VIE | Phan Tuấn Tài |
| 15 | DF | VIE | Đặng Tuấn Phong |
| 16 | MF | VIE | Lê Quốc Nhật Nam |
| 22 | FW | VIE | Trần Danh Trung |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | FW | VIE | Nhâm Mạnh Dũng |
| 25 | GK | VIE | Quàng Thế Tài |
| 26 | MF | VIE | Bùi Văn Đức |
| 27 | MF | BRA | Patrick Gama |
| 31 | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Hữu Thái Bảo |
| 32 | MF | BRA | Wesley Natã |
| 34 | MF | VIE | Đinh Tuấn Tài |
| 36 | GK | VIE | Phạm Văn Phong |
| 39 | FW | VIE | Dương Văn Hào |
| 66 | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Mạnh Hưng |
| 68 | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Hồng Phúc |
| 79 | FW | VIE | Nguyễn Đăng Dương |
| 86 | MF | VIE | Trương Tiến Anh |
| 88 | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Hữu Nam |

### Reserves and academy

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | VIE | Nguyễn Văn Chức |
| — | GK | VIE | Phạm Mạnh Cường |
| — | DF | VIE | Đặng Thanh Bình |
| — | DF | VIE | Hồ Văn An |
| — | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Hoàng Nam |
| — | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Hữu Trung |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | VIE | Bùi Tiến Sinh |
| — | MF | VIE | Đỗ Văn Chí |
| — | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Bá Dương |
| — | MF | VIE | Vũ Đình Chiến |
| — | FW | VIE | Hoàng Công Hậu |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | VIE | Đoàn Huy Hoàng (at Bắc Ninh until 15 July 2025) |
| — | GK | VIE | Phạm Hoàng An (at Hòa Bình until 15 July 2025) |
| — | GK | VIE | Trần Đức Duy (at PVF-CAND until 15 July 2025) |
| — | DF | VIE | Đoàn Thế Phong (at PVF until 15 July 2025) |
| — | DF | VIE | Tiêu Trung Hiếu (at Hòa Bình until 15 July 2025) |
| — | DF | VIE | Trần Phạm Bảo Tuấn (at Quy Nhơn Bình Định until 15 July 2025) |
| — | DF | VIE | Vũ Quốc Anh (at Huế until 15 July 2025) |
| — | DF | VIE | Vũ Tùng Dương (at Huế until 15 July 2025) |
| 2 | DF | VIE | Vũ Văn Quyết (at LPBank HCMC until 15 July 2025) |
| — | DF | VIE | Nguyễn Hữu Luân (at Huế until 15 July 2025) |
| — | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Đình Đức (at Hòa Bình until 15 July 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Đức Hoàng Minh (at Quy Nhơn Bình Định until 15 July 2025) |
| — | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Hoàng Khanh (at Bắc Ninh until 15 July 2025) |
| — | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Ngọc Tú (at Hải Phòng until 15 July 2025) |
| — | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Thành An (at Huế until 15 July 2025) |
| — | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Thành Đạt (at Bình Phước until 15 July 2025) |
| — | MF | VIE | Nguyễn Văn Tú (at Hải Phòng until 15 July 2025) |
| — | FW | VIE | Huỳnh Kim Huy (at PVF until 15 July 2025) |
| — | FW | VIE | Nguyễn Hữu Tiệp (at Bắc Ninh until 15 July 2025) |
| — | FW | VIE | Nguyễn Hữu Tuấn (at Huế until 15 July 2025) |
| — | FW | VIE | Nguyễn Sỹ Chiến (at LPBank HCMC until 15 July 2025) |
| — | FW | VIE | Vũ Bá Hải Dương (at Huế until 15 July 2025) |

## Famous players

* Ba Đẻn
* Bùi Tiến Dũng
* Đặng Phương Nam
* Đỗ Mạnh Dũng
* Đỗ Văn Phúc
* Khuất Văn Khang
* Lê Phước Tứ
* Ngô Xuân Quýnh
* Nhâm Mạnh Dũng
* Nguyễn Cao Cường
* Nguyễn Đức Chiến
* Nguyễn Đức Thắng
* Nguyễn Hoàng Đức
* Nguyễn Hồng Sơn
* Nguyễn Huy Hùng
* Nguyễn Mạnh Cường
* Nguyễn Thanh Bình
* Nguyễn Trọng Giáp
* Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng
* Nguyễn Văn Quyết
* Phạm Như Thuần
* Phan Tuấn Tài
* Phan Văn Mỵ
* Quế Ngọc Hải
* Quản Trọng Hùng
* Thạch Bảo Khanh
* Tí Bồ
* Trần Nguyên Mạnh
* Trần Văn Khánh
* Trần Văn Thành
* Triệu Quang Hà
* Trương Tiến Anh
* Trương Việt Hoàng
* Vương Tiến Dũng

## Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Nguyễn Đức Thắng |
| Technical director | Thomas Dooley |
| Assistant coach | Ngô Tiến Dũng Nguyễn Văn Biển Phan Bá Hùng |
| Goalkeeper coach | Guilherme Almeida |
| Fitness coach | Wagner Ellwanger |
| Technical analyst | Nguyễn Huy Toàn |
| Doctor | Kim Kwang-jae |
| Physiotherapist | Nguyễn Văn Tỉnh Phạm Văn Tĩnh |

## Coaches

* Quản Trọng Hùng (2001–?)
* Branko Radović (?–7/11/2003)
* Phan Văn Mỵ (7/11/2003-?)
* Tomas Viczko (10/2006-?)
* Nguyễn Mạnh Cường (3/2005–1/2006)
* Gyorgy Galhidi (31/7/2007–1/9/2008)
* Vương Tiến Dũng (16/9/2008–2009)
* Lê Thụy Hải (1/2009–5/2009)
* Đinh Thế Nam (2016)
* Nguyễn Hải Biên (2017–1/2019)
* Lee Heung-sil (1/2019-6/2019)
* Nguyễn Hải Biên (6/2019–1/2020)
* Trương Việt Hoàng (1/2020–6/2022)
* Hans-Jürgen Gede (6/2021) (2021 AFC Champions League only)
* Bae Ji-won (6/2022–12/2022)
* Thạch Bảo Khanh (12/2022–12/2023)
* Thomas Dooley (12/2023–1/2024) (caretaker)
* Nguyễn Đức Thắng (1/2024–present)