Join Tuoi Tre (Youth) magazine on a journey to the World Cup cathedral.

Back then, I was just a student sleeping on a park bench at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Cultural Center from 1 to 2 a.m. to wait to watch the live broadcast and "hunt for news" for Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Trung Nghia and valuable documents after 32 years: World Cup USA 1994 breaking news from Tuoi Tre newspaper - Photo: TRAN VIET

The theme song of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, "Un'estate Italiana," composed by Giorgio Moroder, has the most beautiful line: "Dreams begin in childhood" (Quel sogno che comincia da bambino).

My youth was intertwined with Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) magazine , the World Cup, and my journey of reporting internationally , fueled by a passion for journalism. It began with handwritten news snippets on school notebooks for the Tin Nhanh (Quick News) editorial office; content ranging from the atmosphere of Saigon residents welcoming the World Cup, international tourists watching the World Cup, and personalities like the zither artist Hai Phuong or chess player Tu Hoang Thong sharing their thoughts on football...

An interesting statistic at the time was that a long news item consisting of one headline and four lines (exactly 51 words) published in Tuoi Tre News earned a fee of 25,000 dong – an amount that allowed a student like me to buy 15 newspapers of various kinds to read daily for about half a month.

It was those tiny news snippets, written while sleeping rough on outdoor benches while waiting to watch the 1994 USA World Cup or the 1998 France World Cup on a screen in the auditorium of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Cultural Center, that were the "dots" connecting my career path (to use Steve Jobs' words), making me love journalism, love Tuoi Tre (Youth) magazine, and embark on my journey to cover many FIFA World Cups later on.

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In 2002, for the first time in history, the World Cup was held in Asia, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. This was also the first World Cup I traveled abroad to cover as an official reporter for Tuoi Tre newspaper.

To prepare for a long reporting trip lasting over a month, like the World Cup, you need comprehensive preparation starting six months in advance – from applying for press credentials and visas, to planning travel itineraries, transportation, accommodation, and developing topics ranging from daily news reports for breaking news to feature stories for daily newspapers.

For me, the World Cup has never been just about football. It's the moment a Vietnamese journalist stands for the first time in the middle of the vast World Cup press center in Seoul (South Korea) and realizes how big the world truly is.

It's the overnight bus journeys from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, traversing the samba land of Brazil. It's the Lusail Stadium in the Middle Eastern desert (Qatar) still lit up at 2 AM after a football match. It's the frantic rush with a heavy suitcase and camera backpack to catch the train from Berlin to Munich on a trip around Germany...

My most memorable experiences were the times I had to rush to meet deadlines across different time zones to send news articles and photos to the editorial offices of Tin Nhanh and Tuoi Tre newspapers in Vietnam before they went to print or the files were sent to the printing house. In South Korea, I needed to send my World Cup article before bed; in Brazil, I had to wake up at 5 am to write and send it; in Europe or South Africa, I sent it before lunchtime... And sending news articles to Tuoi Tre Online was 24/7, day and night.

Looking back, I am truly grateful for what has happened and feel that I am still eager to tell more stories about the World Cup to Tuổi Trẻ newspaper, just as I dreamed of doing since childhood. And the World Cup is still there, waiting for me!

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On my way to the 2026 World Cup in North America, I was deeply moved as I flipped through my photo album of short, matchbox-sized news articles published in the Tuoi Tre World Cup USA 1994 news section.

Trung Nghia has covered 13 FIFA tournaments for Tuoi Tre newspaper, including 7 consecutive men's World Cups (2002-2026), 2 women's World Cups (2015, 2023), the Futsal World Cup, the Club World Cup, the U-17 World Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/den-thanh-duong-world-cup-cung-tuoi-tre-100260630123640333.htm