Vietnamese football has made history against Chinese national teams in the past.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - In terms of numbers, Chinese teams have beaten Vietnamese teams more often in the past. However, Vietnamese football has had victories and historical milestones against Chinese football.

AFC U23 Asian Championship 2026 schedule

Semifinal

6:30 PM on January 20th: Japan U23 vs. South Korea U23

10:30 PM on January 20th: Vietnam U23 vs. China U23

Third-place match (10 PM, January 23rd): The two teams that lost in the semi-finals.

Final: (10 PM on January 24th): The two winning teams from the semi-finals

Unforgettable milestones

At the national team level, the reason the Chinese national team has had more wins than the Vietnamese national team in the past is because, many years ago, Vietnamese football was considered a weak team in Southeast Asia.

Over time, Vietnamese football has become stronger, and currently, many believe that Vietnamese football has come close to, or even surpassed, Chinese football in some aspects.

The Vietnamese national team once defeated the Chinese national team 3-1 in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers (Photo: Do ​​Linh).

But even during those years before achieving such a high status, the Vietnamese national team had a memorable match against the Chinese national team. That match took place in 1997, as part of the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, at Thong Nhat Stadium (Ho Chi Minh City).

That period was the golden age of Chinese football. They had just finished as runners-up in the 1994 Asian Games, and then qualified for the 2002 World Cup finals, the first and only time the football nation of the world's most populous country has participated in the world football championship. However, they still had a nail-biting match against the Vietnamese national team.

That year, the Vietnamese national team was led by interim coach Tran Duy Long, while the once-famous striker of domestic football, Le Huynh Duc, scored a spectacular goal against the Chinese national team.

Huynh Duc dribbled past two Chinese defenders, including the famous Li Tie (one of the best players in Chinese football history, who once played for Manchester City in England), before shooting the ball into the net. Ultimately, the Chinese team won 3-1, but the Vietnamese team stunned all of Asia with that goal.

Twenty-five years after that day, the status of Vietnamese football has changed significantly. We officially had our first victory against the Chinese national team in the World Cup qualifiers. That was on February 1, 2022, the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Tiger 2022, when the Vietnamese national team defeated the Chinese national team 3-1 at My Dinh Stadium ( Hanoi ) in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

The goalscorers for Coach Park Hang Seo's team that year were Ho Tan Tai, Nguyen Tien Linh, and Phan Van Duc. That was the first victory in history for the Vietnamese national team in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region.

Good performance recently

At the U23 level, the Vietnam U23 team had never faced the China U23 team in the AFC U23 Asian Championship finals, prior to the semi-final match of this year's tournament.

The Vietnam U23 team had never faced the China U23 team in the Asian U23 Championship before this year's tournament (Photo: AFC).

The two sides mainly meet in friendly matches. As mentioned, in recent years, the standing of Vietnamese football has risen, and Vietnamese teams have increasingly defeated Chinese teams.

In the last five friendly matches between the two teams, Vietnam U23 has the upper hand with two wins, two draws, and only one loss.

Specifically, in a friendly match on November 8, 2016, in Wuhan (Hubei, China), the two teams drew 1-1. The goal for Vietnam U23 was scored by Hoang Thanh Tung.

Three years later, also in Hubei province (China), the Vietnam U23 team defeated the China U23 team 2-0 in a friendly match on September 8, 2019. Tien Linh scored both goals for the Vietnamese team in this match.

On September 4, 2024, at the CFA Team China 2024 friendly tournament organized by the Chinese Football Association, the Chinese U23 team defeated the Vietnamese U23 team 2-1. The goal for the Vietnamese U23 team was scored by Quoc Viet.

Minh Phuc (21) was the last person to score for Vietnam U23 against China U23, last November (Photo: AFC).

On March 25, 2025, the Vietnam U23 team drew 1-1 with the China U23 team in Jiangsu Province (China). Quoc Viet scored again for Coach Kim Sang Sik's team.

Most recently, at the Panda Cup 2025 held in China, the Vietnam U23 team defeated the China U23 team 1-0 on November 12, 2025. Minh Phuc was the goalscorer for the Vietnam U23 team.

Quoc Viet and Minh Phuc are named in the Vietnam U23 team participating in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, preparing to face China U23 on January 20th. Furthermore, every time Vietnam U23 achieves a good result against China U23, we are poised to make a big impact.

In 2019, after a 2-0 victory against China U23 in Hubei, the Vietnam U23 team won the SEA Games 30 in the Philippines, our first ever SEA Games championship.

Last year, after a 1-1 draw with China U23 in March, we won the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship in July in Indonesia. Following our victory against China U23 in November, Vietnam U23 won the SEA Games 33, which took place in December in Thailand.

Continuing their momentum, the Vietnam U23 team may well beat the China U23 team again on January 20th, and make history at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bong-da-viet-nam-tung-ghi-dau-an-lich-su-truoc-cac-doi-tuyen-trung-quoc-20260118135516192.htm