Vietnam Football in 2025: The Future Starts with the AFF Cup

Wide open opportunities in the final of AFF Cup 2024

The 2024 AFF Cup “squeezed” into the early days of 2025 could be a dream start for Vietnamese football in the new year. There is only one more obstacle ahead of the team of coach Kim Sang Sik (Korean).

Perhaps that barrier is the biggest obstacle for Vietnamese football in Southeast Asia: the Thai team. However, at the moment, the Vietnamese team is confident. In addition, the Vietnamese players are very hungry for titles, after a period of being empty-handed, after a period of being surpassed not only by Thailand but also by Indonesia.

Even coach Masatada Ishii (Japanese) of the Thai team also pointed out the clear advantages of the team under coach Kim Sang Sik, compared to the remaining teams in Southeast Asia.

The Vietnamese team has a chance to win the AFF Cup championship, starting the new year smoothly (Photo: Do ​​Minh Xuan).

Mr. Masatada Ishii said: “The Vietnamese team has a huge advantage in that the country’s domestic league has been temporarily suspended so that the national team can focus on competing in the AFF Cup. In terms of expertise, the Vietnamese team is a very strong team. They are strong in both attack and defense.”

Thailand itself is at a disadvantage compared to the Vietnamese team in that many clubs in the Thai-League do not allow some of their stars such as Chanathip Songkrasin or Theerathon Bunmathan to participate in the AFF Cup 2024.

Not only that, Thai center back Elias Dolah was not allowed by Indonesian team Bali United to return to play for the team from the Land of the Golden Temple.

On the other hand, Thailand also made it difficult for Singapore (Thailand's opponent in the AFF Cup group stage), when Thai clubs did not "release" the three Fandi brothers, including center back Irfan Fandi (Port FC), strikers Ilhan Fandi and Ikhsan Fandi (both from BG Pathum United) to the Lion Island team.

The Vietnamese team has the position, time and strength to win the Southeast Asian championship (Photo: Thanh Dong).

If Singapore had the three Fandi brothers, the quality of this team would have been much different. They could have caused more difficulties for the Vietnamese team in the semi-finals.

That said, the Vietnamese team has the position, time and strength to win the AFF Cup for the third time, to open a new year with many expectations for domestic football.

Big tasks of the year

After the AFF Cup 2024, the Vietnamese team will participate in the third qualifying round of the Asian Cup 2027, starting at the end of March this year. In the qualifying round of this tournament, coach Kim Sang Sik's team is in Group F with Malaysia, Nepal and Laos. The Vietnamese team's mission is to win the top spot in the qualifying group to participate in the Asian Cup.

With the Vietnam U23 team, the next generation of the national team, this team will have two important tournaments in 2025, which are the U23 Asian qualifiers and the men's football event at the 2025 SEA Games.

Young player Bui Vi Hao (15) could be a mainstay of the Vietnam U23 team in the U23 Asia qualifiers and SEA Games (Photo: Thanh Dong).

With the U23 Asian qualifiers, the young players' mission is to qualify for the final round (VCK) taking place in early 2026 in Saudi Arabia. As for the 2025 SEA Games, the mission of the young team under coach Kim Sang Sik is to reclaim the championship from U23 Indonesia.

What is noteworthy about the Vietnam U23 team is that, in the squad of the Vietnam team participating in the AFF Cup 2024, there are a number of faces old enough to participate in the SEA Games, such as goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien, midfielder Khuat Van Khang and striker Bui Vi Hao (all 21 years old).

If we count the group of players who are regularly called up to the national team during the preparation for the AFF Cup, this number includes goalkeeper Nguyen Van Viet (22 years old), defender Giap Tuan Duong (22 years old), Ho Van Cuong (21 years old), midfielder Nguyen Thai Son, Nguyen Van Truong (both 21 years old), striker Nguyen Dinh Bac (20 years old), Nguyen Quoc Viet, Tran Ngoc Son, Nguyen Thanh Nhan (all 21 years old), the group of players old enough to participate in the SEA Games is very large.

Among them, apart from goalkeeper Nguyen Van Viet and defender Giap Tuan Duong, all the remaining young faces are old enough to participate in the 2026 U23 Asian tournament.

Coach Kim Sang Sik builds a long-term force for Vietnamese football (Photo: Do ​​Minh Quan).

Former VFF Vice President Duong Vu Lam commented: "Coach Kim Sang Sik's use of people recently shows that he is preparing for the future, through combining young faces with veteran players."

“This could be the consistent direction available from the current strategic planners of Vietnamese football. In my opinion, this is the right direction,” added former Vice President in charge of VFF expertise, Duong Vu Lam.

Looking to the future

According to Mr. Duong Vu Lam, Vietnamese football does not want to stop at regional tournaments, through the way we have prepared our forces in the recent past. Mr. Lam said: "Whenever the team gathers, coach Kim Sang Sik always tries to build a force that can both maintain the strength to represent a football foundation and have inheritance."

“This is what Thai football is doing. The Thai national team is transferring players to prepare for the 2030 World Cup qualifiers. I think the Vietnamese national team wants to do the same. We are building a squad of players of the right age so that we can compete from now until the 2030 World Cup qualifiers.

Vietnamese football begins to think about the 2030 World Cup qualifiers (Photo: Do ​​Minh Quan).

Because, if we only needed people to play in the 2024 AFF Cup, perhaps coach Kim Sang Sik would not have spent so much time on young players. Aiming for the World Cup qualifiers, in my opinion, is the right choice," Mr. Duong Vu Lam emphasized.

From the above perspective, it can be seen that the AFF Cup 2024 and the journey of Vietnamese football in 2025 are pivotal journeys for the long-term strategy of the entire football industry.

Certainly, the road ahead for Vietnamese football will be full of difficulties. However, Vietnamese football is determined to achieve a dual goal, which is to be strong enough to compete for the highest achievements in regional tournaments including the AFF Cup and SEA Games, while also implementing a roadmap towards the continental and world arenas.

Most of Vietnam's football stars have grown up in the domestic football system (Photo: Manh Quan).

To successfully implement this entire roadmap, the first step is to build a solid foundation, through developing a good domestic tournament system.

Perhaps the domestic tournaments up to now are not perfect, still causing some controversy in some aspects. However, objectively speaking, compared to many years ago, the current V-League is more professional, and is run in a more impartial direction.

The appearance of VAR technology in this tournament shows the great efforts of the organizers, helping to significantly reduce controversy, as well as significantly reduce the doubts of domestic football circles about refereeing.

Following the V-League, there have been a number of major investors appearing in the First Division (in Ninh Binh and Binh Phuoc teams), creating better competition for this tournament. Competition in the V-League and the First Division is the premise for creating a better domestic league system!

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bong-da-viet-nam-nam-2025-tuong-lai-bat-dau-tu-aff-cup-20250101021840064.htm