Vietnam national football team
The Vietnam national football team () represents Vietnam in international football and is controlled by the Vietnam Football Federation, the governing body of football in Vietnam. Vietnam was introduced to the sport by the French in the 19th century. However, due to various conflicts that occurred in the country throughout the 20th century, the development of Vietnamese football was significantly hampered during these times. While Vietnam was split into North and South Vietnam in 1954, two national teams existed and both were controlled by separate governing bodies. After the two countries unified in 1976, the separate governing  bodies were combined and renamed to the Vietnam Football Federation. Since the 1990s, Vietnam has re-integrated into global football, and the sport soon became an integral part of Vietnamese society and a soft-power mechanism against the country's negative reputation due to the Vietnam War and subsequent international conflicts. This has made the national football team a part of Vietnamese nationalism, enjoying nationwide support. Vietnamese supporters are dubbed to be some of the most passionate fans, renowned for large celebrations over the team's achievements, regardless of whether it is on the senior or youth categories. Considered as  one of the most prolific and successful football teams in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has won the AFF Championship twice, in 2008 and 2018. At the continental level, the team reached fourth place twice as South Vietnam in the AFC Asian Cup, back when it was contested by four teams. They reached the quarter-finals twice as a united nation in 2007 and 2019. Despite never qualifying for FIFA World Cup so far, Vietnam has reached the final round of the qualification once in 2022 and become the first Southeast Asian team ever to obtain the win in this stage. Its  main rivals are other national teams in the AFF, of which Thailand is seen as the biggest. History. Early history (1896–1954). 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. 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. 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. It was  the time Vietnam played their first ever international match, against Korea in Saigon which they lost 2–4. Two Vietnam national teams (1954–1976). 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. 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. 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. Post Vietnam War and redevelopment era (1991–2006). The reunified Vietnam national football team rejoined international football by participating in the 1991 edition of the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. They have participated in every edition of the tournament since then. Unified Vietnam has also regularly entered qualification for the FIFA World Cup since the 1994 edition and for the AFC Asian Cup since the 1996 edition. 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 (1996) ASEAN Football Federation championship (then known as 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. Vietnam has participated in all editions of the ASEAN championship, winning the title in 2008 and 2018. 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. 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. Renaissance of Vietnam football (2007–2009). 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. 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. 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 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. Decline (2009–2014). 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. Rebuilding (2014–2017). 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. 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, in spite of winning 2–1 away before. 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. 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. However, two disappointing defeats to Thailand away 0–1 and humiliating 0–3 home loss to the same opponent 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. 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 and previously lost 1–2 away to the same rival. 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 and a goalless draw to Jordan in Ho Chi Minh City. 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. 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. These wins allowed Vietnam to join top two for final tickets. The Golden Generation (2018–present). Park Hang-seo, former assistant of Guus Hiddink during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, was appointed as new coach  of Vietnam on 29 September 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. Upon his arrival to Vietnam, Park Hang-seo was greeted with skepticism and jeers from Vietnamese. Park's first match as coach of Vietnam was in the same 2019 Asian Cup qualification, where Vietnam beats Cambodia at home in a 5-0 win on 10 October 2017, followed by a 0–0 draw at home against Afghanistan on 14 November 2017, thus allowed Vietnam to qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian  Cup, their first ever Asian Cup since 2007. Park himself, though, was criticized due to the team's unconvincing performance. 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. 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. 2018 AFF Championship. Also with these young players, the 2018 AFF Championship became Vietnam 's second AFF Championship title. In Group A, Vietnam managed three 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. 2019 AFC Asian Cup. 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. The win sent million of Vietnamese into the street for celebrations. 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. 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. Vietnam was grouped in the Qualifying Second Round Group G with three other Southeast Asian rivals: Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, along with the United Arab Emirates. The Vietnamese started with a 0–0 away draw over Thailand before defeating Malaysia 1–0 at home and then achieving a 3–1 away win against Indonesia. 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. 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. 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 favour 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. In the third round, Vietnam was drawn into group B along with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China and Oman; whom Vietnam entirely lost in the head-to-head record. The team played its best in every matches, but due to suffering even greater loss of key players, Vietnam was unable to achieve  a single point after the first seven games. After the heavy 0–4 away loss against Australia in Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on 27 January 2022, Vietnam was officially eliminated from World Cup, which marked seven matches of defeat. However, just five days later, it became the first ever team from Southeast Asia to win a match in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers by beating China 3–1 at home on 1 February 2022, which coincided with the Lunar New Year's Day in Vietnam and China. The win was also the first-ever win from a Southeast Asian team  against China in an official competitive match after 65 years, when Indonesia beat China 2–0 in the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification. The team achieved another historical result in the last qualifying match by 1–1 draw against the host Japan in Saitama Stadium 2002 on 29th March marking the first time ever Vietnam does not lose Japan since its reintegration to international football. Nonetheless, Vietnam only earned 4 points in total after 10 matches of the third round (1 win, 1 draw, 8 losses) and finished bottom. Team image. Kits. 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. Sponsorship. Primary sponsors include: Honda, Yanmar, Grand Sport, Sony, Bia Saigon, Acecook, Coca-Cola, Vinamilk, Kao Vietnam, Herbalife Nutrition and TNI Corporation. Logo. 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 and 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. However in 1998 AFF Championship , team Vietnam used the former VFF logo at their jersey officially.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. 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. Nicknames. VFF's media outlets use nickname  Những Chiến binh Sao vàng (or "Golden Star Warriors") officially for the national team, which is derived from the star of the national flag on the team's jersey. The local media in Vietnam also refer the national team as simply ""Tuyển"" (The selection). Supporters. There are two major supporters' clubs for the national team, namely "Vietnam Football Supporters" (VFS, ) which was founded in 2014 and "Vietnam Golden Stars" (VGS, ) 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. 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. During the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Vietnamese fans were euphoric in celebration after beating Jordan in the round of sixteen. 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. Stadiums. The Vietnamese national team mainly plays at Mỹ Đình National  Stadium, although other venues are also used. Other used venues are Hàng Đẫy Stadium, Thống Nhất, Cần Thơ stadium. Rivalries. Thailand. 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 two matches, in the group stage and the final. Despite currently having the better overall record compared with Thailand with 23 wins, 11 draws, and 19 losses  after 53 matches, Vietnam has generally poor results against Thailand since its reintegration into international football in 1991. After the match between two teams in December 2021 in 2020 AFF Championship, Vietnam has faced Thailand in 26 matches at the national team level since 1991, the overall results being 3 wins, 7 draws and 16 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. Indonesia. Vietnam and neighbors Indonesia have faced each other in 38 matches, with Vietnam having the poorer record with 12 wins, 11 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 seven draws and five 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. Singapore. 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 five 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. Malaysia. As South Vietnam, the Vietnamese side had a poorer performance, with only three wins, three draws and seven 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 14 wins, three draws and only six losses since 1991. Vietnam has also been maintaining the series of unbeaten match against Malaysia since 2014. Results and fixtures. The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. Players. Current squad. The following 23 players were called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Japan on 29 March 2022. "Caps and goals as  of 29 March 2022 after the match against ." Recent call-ups. The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection. Competitive record. Asian Games. Since 2002, the Asian Games Football tournament uses the Olympic team. See: Vietnam national Olympic football team Southeast Asian Games. Since 2001, the SEA Games football competition has only allowed the olympic side to participate. See: Vietnam national Olympic football team FIFA world rankings. FIFA-ranking Honours. "Include the results of before 1976 (1949/1954–1976)" Continental Regional