Nguyễn Tiến Linh

Nguyễn Tiến Linh (born 20 October 1997) is a Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as a striker for V.League 1 club Becamex Binh Duong and the Vietnam national team. In 2021, Tiến Linh was nominated by a panel of sports journalists and football experts for Best Footballer in Asia. He is considered one of the best Vietnamese footballers of his generation. After a match with China, he became the all-time leader for Vietnam in the World Cup qualifiers, passing Lê Công Vinh who had 7 goals.
Early life
Nguyễn Tiến Linh was born and raised in the Cam Hoang commune of the Cam Giang district, Hai Duong. At the age of 2, his mother moved to South Korea for work. At the age of 6, he followed his father to Binh Duong. His mother returned to Vietnam when he was 9 years old. Currently, his family owns a football theme coffee shop in the city of Thuận An.
Club career
Becamex Binh Duong U19
2015
With 5 goals, Tiến Linh was the top scorer of Vietnamese National U-19 Football Championship.
Becamex Binh Duong
2016–present
Tiến Linh made his first debut with Becamex Binh Duong in 2016.
Over 4 years, Tiến Linh scored 26 goals, with fifteen in 2018, five in 2020, and six in 2021 before the cancellation of V.League 1. Becamex Binh Duong won the Vietnamese National Football Super Cup and also placed second in the Vietnamese National Football Super Cup, also earning the Vietnamese Bronze Ball in 2022.
International career
2018: First Match for Vietnam and won AFF Championship
On 8 November 2018, Tiến Linh made his debut for the national team in the match against Laos. He scored his first goal for Vietnam against Cambodia in their last group match. At the end, Tiến Linh and Vietnam won 2018 AFF Championship.
2019-present
2022 World Cup qualification
On 15 October 2019, Tiến Linh scored his first goal in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Indonesia. A month later, he scored the only goal against UAE. In June 2021, he scored 3 goals in the last 3 matches of the second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification to promote Vietnam to the third round. On 1 February 2022, he scored a goal in the match against China to pass Le Cong Vinh as the top scorer for Vietnam in the history of World Cup qualification.
2020 AFF Championship
In 2020 AFF Championship, he scored a brace in a 4–0 win against Cambodia, but his team lost in the semi-finals to Thailand.
2022 AFF Championship
Tiến Linh scored 6 goals in 2022 AFF Championship to share the top goalscorer award with Thai striker Teerasil Dangda, but Vietnam once again lost Thailand by 2-3 on aggregate in the finals.
Career statistics
Club
International
International goals
Vietnam U-23
Scores and results list U23 Vietnam's goal tally first.
Vietnam
Scores and results list Vietnam's goal tally first.
Honours
Club
Becamex Binh Duong
Vietnamese National Cup: 2018
Vietnamese Super Cup: 2016
International
Vietnam
AFF Championship: 2018; runner-up: 2022
VFF Cup: 2022
Vietnam U23
Southeast Asian Games (2): 2019, 2021
Individual
Vietnamese Silver Ball: 2022
Vietnamese Bronze Ball: 2021
AFF Championship Top scorer: 2022
AFF Championship Best XI: 2022
Record
Most Goals In FIFA World Cup qualification in the history of Vietnam national football team: 8 Goals
References
1997 births
Living people
Vietnamese men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
V.League 1 players
Becamex Binh Duong FC players
People from Hải Dương province
2019 AFC Asian Cup players
Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games
SEA Games medalists in football
SEA Games gold medalists for Vietnam
Vietnam men's international footballers
Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games