Vietnamese futsal is at risk of going backward.

The Vietnamese futsal team defeated Australia 4-0 to win third place at the 2026 Southeast Asian Futsal Championship held yesterday (April 12) in Thailand. However, the progress of their opponents is a cause for concern for Vietnamese futsal.

The Vietnamese futsal team during their victory against Australia at the 2026 Southeast Asian Futsal Championship - Photo: VFF

From being second only to Thailand, Vietnam is now behind Indonesia and doesn't have any significant advantage over Malaysia. This is not only due to the Vietnamese futsal team undergoing a rejuvenation process (7 out of 14 players are between 20 and 24 years old) but also because of difficulties in developing the sport.

Look at others and reflect on yourself.

The consecutive defeats against Indonesia in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship and the semifinals of the 2026 Southeast Asian Futsal Championship have shown that the gap between the Vietnamese futsal team and Indonesia is becoming increasingly difficult to bridge. This is because the most important foundation – Vietnam's national championship – has long been surpassed by Indonesia.

The Vietnamese National Futsal Championship has 8 participating teams, most of which are affiliated with or share a single sponsor. The league started allowing the hiring of one foreign player and one overseas Vietnamese player from the 2023 season, but only 1-2 clubs had the money to do so, and now there are almost no foreign players available.

The league saw a breakthrough in the home-and-away format starting in 2023, but in reality, it was just for show because almost no team actually had their own home stadium due to budget constraints.

The 2026 National Futsal Championship, starting next May, marks the second consecutive season in which 6 out of 8 clubs have chosen the Chánh Hưng Ward Futsal Arena in Ho Chi Minh City as their home ground for training and matches. In reality, this is the home arena of Thái Sơn Nam TP.HCM, the dominant team in the league.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian National Futsal League, since being upgraded to a professional league in 2016, has grown significantly with the participation of 12 clubs, all of which have their own home stadiums. For the 2023-2024 season, Indonesia allows clubs to register a maximum of 7 foreign players, including 2 players currently representing the national team and 5 U20 players.

In the 2024-2025 season, the league will only allow clubs to hire two foreign players, but the quality has not decreased at all. "I have to admit that the Indonesian league is one of the highest quality leagues in Asia," said Muhamad Osamanmusa, a star of the Thai futsal team currently playing for Jimbee Cartagena (Spain), to the Thai media.

With strong momentum from the National Futsal Championship, Indonesia has risen to the top of Southeast Asia for over a year. Indonesia defeated Vietnam to win the 2024 Southeast Asian Futsal Championship, beat host Thailand to win the gold medal at the 2025 SEA Games 33. Furthermore, Indonesia also made history by finishing as runner-up in the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship.

Head coach of the Vietnamese futsal team - Photo: TTO

The movement has stalled.

The resounding victory against Australia in the third-place match of the 2026 Southeast Asian Futsal Championship was a consolation prize for the Vietnamese futsal team after a trophyless SEA Games 33. However, Australia was not a formidable opponent, having lost to both Thailand and Indonesia in the tournament. The important thing is what the Vietnamese futsal team will do to improve their capabilities and aim to qualify for the Futsal World Cup again in the future.

Overcoming regional rivals is now no easy feat. Moreover, Asian rivals are also constantly improving, with 10-12 teams capable of competing for a World Cup spot.

Not only did the Vietnamese futsal team qualify for the Futsal World Cup twice in a row (2016 and 2021), but they also reached the round of 16 twice. However, this resounding success failed to provide a springboard for further development of Vietnamese futsal in the past five years. Overshadowed by the strong growth of 7-a-side football and facing difficulties in player selection, Vietnamese futsal (5-a-side football) has also been unable to retain its promising players.

Most notably, Nguyen Van Hieu, a player who won the "Best Goal" award at the 2021 Futsal World Cup and was considered one of the five most promising young players at the tournament, retired at the age of 25 just two years later.

He left futsal to join 7-a-side football, where the income was better and the time commitment was less restrictive. Many other famous futsal players, upon retirement, also focused solely on playing 7-a-side football instead of continuing to develop the futsal movement.

Vu Xuan Du, a futsal player who participated in the 2016 Futsal World Cup, retired in 2022. Most recently, Nguyen Minh Tri, a player who participated in the Futsal World Cup twice, retired in early April this year and also chose to play amateur football.

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/futsal-viet-nam-lo-di-thut-lui-20260413080706231.htm