V.League football teams and ambitions in the Asian playground

Nam Dinh and home field advantage

Nam Dinh Club will play against Ratchaburi FC (Thailand) in Group F - AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026 on the evening of September 17 at Thien Truong Stadium. Last season, Nam Dinh stopped at the round of 16 after losing to Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan) in two matches. The team from Thanh Nam was eliminated after two matches with a total score of 0-7.

cahn (5).jpg -0 — Hanoi Police Club aims for Asian playground. Photo: CAHN

This season, Nam Dinh is in group F with Gamba Osaka (Japan), Ratchaburi FC (Thailand) and Eastern FC (Hong Kong - China).

Before this match, coach Vu Hong Viet said: “Currently, we are ready for the AFC Champions League Two arena. Ratchaburi is a strong team, possessing many quality foreign players. However, with the advantage of Thien Truong Stadium, the whole team is confident of achieving a favorable result in the opening match. The new players have integrated well, and depending on each match, we will have reasonable adjustments and rotations of the squad. Nam Dinh FC's goal is to go deep in this year's tournament."

Meanwhile, center-back Lucas Alves expressed the determination of the team from Nam Dinh: "Ratchaburi is not an easy opponent, but when playing at home, Nam Dinh's goal is nothing other than 3 points. The group stage matches are very fast, so we have to cherish every point. Only two teams can continue, and the whole team will try their best to win a ticket to the next round." Nam Dinh will have an advantage when playing at home. The reigning V.League champion is showing its ambition to reach the continent after winning the title and becoming a force in domestic football.

In the early match of round 6 of V.League, Nam Dinh was held to a 0-0 draw by Ho Chi Minh City Police, coach Vu Hong Viet shared the difficulties in terms of personnel. Mr. Viet said: “We are having problems with injuries of domestic players. Today's match only has fully recovered players. Hong Duy, Van Dat, A Mit have just returned. Besides, many other players have just recovered so their physical strength is not guaranteed. This is our big difficulty.

Compared to Hanoi Police or Viettel The Cong, our domestic force is quite thin. Overall, the quality is still high, but in terms of squad depth, it cannot be equal to those two teams. In the next 20 days, we have to play 6 matches, an average of 1 match every 3 days. This will be a huge pressure on physical strength, and I think there needs to be rotation and rotation of players." However, with the highest determination, Nam Dinh still aims for a favorable result when playing at home. This is also the team's support in the opening match of the Asian playground.

Challenges for Hanoi Police

On September 18, Hanoi Police will play away at Beijing Guoan (China). This is the first time the Police team has participated in the AFC Champions League Two as the reigning National Cup champions.

Beijing Guoan have been competing in the AFC Champions League for many years and last season finished 4th in the Chinese national championship. They have 6 foreign players with extensive international experience, promising to be a quality test for coach Polking and his team on the day of their debut in the continental arena.

Hanoi Police also face another challenge when playing away from home. The team just had an early match in round 6 of V.League and won against Hai Phong. However, they suffered a loss of force when their main striker Alan Grafite was seriously injured and could not travel to China with the team. Quang Hai also did not participate in the last minute. Coach Mano Polking said: "The match will be very difficult because Beijing Guo An club is a strong, experienced and deep team. However, we are also in good form and high spirits after positive results in V.League. Hanoi Police will enter the field with careful preparation and the best mentality."

At AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026, CAHN is in the same group with Beijing Guoan (China), Macarthur FC (Australia) and Tai Po FC (Hong Kong - China).

VFF adjusts promotion and relegation rates in V.League
The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) recently approved a proposal to change the promotion/relegation rates in the National Professional Football Tournaments, to ensure reasonableness and suitability with the actual developments of the new season.
According to the announcement, in V.League 2025-2026, the number of relegation slots will be adjusted to 1.5 slots. This means that the team ranked at the bottom of the table will be relegated directly, while the team ranked second to last will participate in the relegation play-off match with a representative from the National First Division.
Meanwhile, in the 2025-2026 National First Division, the number of teams promoted to V.League is also 1.5 places, corresponding to one direct promotion place and one play-off place.
However, to be promoted, the club must fully meet the professional licensing criteria as prescribed by VFF and VPF, especially in terms of finance, facilities, youth training system and personnel management.
In addition, the National First Division will also have 1 direct relegation slot. To maintain a reasonable size for the First Division next season, the 2026 National Second Division will increase to 3 promotion slots, creating more opportunities for potential teams in the lower levels to advance to the professional playing field.
Previously, at the 8th VFF Executive Committee Meeting last March, the initial plan approved was 2 promotion slots and 2 relegation slots, to increase competition in both top divisions.
However, Hoa Binh Club suddenly withdrew from the National First Division right before the new season, causing the structure of participating teams to change. This forced VFF and VPF to consider and adjust the promotion/relegation plan to suit the actual situation. ( HH )

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/cac-doi-bong-v-league-va-tham-vong-o-san-choi-chau-a-i781570/