Vietnam national football team

The Vietnam national football team (Vietnamese: Đội tuyển bóng đá quốc gia Việt Nam) is the national football team represents Vietnam in senior men's international football and is governed by the Vietnam Football Federation. Football was introduced to Vietnam by the French in the late 19th century during the colonial period, and the country's first recorded international match took place in Saigon on 16 January 1949. During the 20th century, political division led to the existence of two separate national teams. South Vietnam as the State of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam, governed by the Vietnam Football Association, joined FIFA in 1952 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954 before the country's division, and participated in tournaments such as the AFC Asian Cup. The North as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam only joined FIFA and the AFC in 1964 and mainly competed in friendly and solidarity tournaments with other communist nations. Following the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1975 (officially in 1976), the football associations merged into the Vietnam Football Federation. Because both North and South Vietnam were members of FIFA, results of their national teams are counted as part of the overall record of the Vietnam national team. After reunification, Vietnam did not field a senior national team in international competitions for over a decade. The country made its return at the 1991 SEA Games, marking its reintegration into regional football. Since then, Vietnam has emerged as one of Southeast Asia's strongest sides, winning the ASEAN Championship four times (2008, 2018, 2024, 2026) and regularly competing at continental level. The team reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in 2007, when it co-hosted the tournament, and again in 2019. In World Cup qualification, Vietnam advanced to the third round for the first time in 2022.