Use players of Vietnamese origin:

The Vietnamese women's national football team is competing in the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers without the participation of any players of Vietnamese origin living abroad, as had been planned.

However, in the long run, proactively attracting players of Vietnamese origin is seen as a crucial direction to improve the quality of the Vietnamese women's national team.

Player Nguyen Hoang Nam Mi trains with the Vietnam women's national football team. Photo: VFF.

The game is no longer easy.

Just days before the start of the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, coach Mai Duc Chung decided not to register midfielder Nguyen Hoang Nam Mi – a player currently living in Canada – in the Vietnamese women's national team squad. The reason given was that Nam Mi had not yet met the professional requirements. Previously, some players of Vietnamese origin who are playing or living abroad, such as Chelsea Le (USA), had also been given the opportunity to train with the national team, but were not officially included in the training camp roster.

The use of foreign players by some teams in the region is no longer a new phenomenon. The Philippine women's national team is a prime example of success in leveraging the resources of Filipino players living abroad. With a core squad of Filipino players trained in the US and Europe, they have consistently made history, culminating in a 1-0 victory against host New Zealand at the 2023 Women's World Cup and winning the 2022 Southeast Asian Championship – including a 4-0 win against Vietnam.

According to coach Mai Duc Chung, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia are currently increasing their efforts to attract football talent from abroad, indicating that the competition for achievements in Southeast Asian women's football will be fierce. Therefore, the trend of the Vietnamese women's national team adding overseas Vietnamese players is inevitable. The early elimination of the Vietnamese national team in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup, revealing limitations in physical fitness, endurance, and speed, further highlights the need to strengthen the team from external sources. And adding players of Vietnamese origin is seen as a necessary solution to the problem of raising the level of the national team.

The involvement of multiple parties is needed.

In Vietnam, players of Vietnamese descent are increasingly demonstrating their potential to contribute to Vietnamese football. Chelsea Le and Ashley Ton That Tram Anh are two prominent names who played for Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club in the recent AFC Champions League and National Cup 2025.

Currently, the Vietnam Football Federation has facilitated the use of players of Vietnamese origin by Vietnamese clubs in domestic leagues. However, to date, only Ho Chi Minh City FC has implemented this, achieving certain positive results. From the 2026 season onwards, the situation may change, as some clubs, in addition to hiring foreign players according to regulations, will also increase their efforts to recruit and utilize players of Vietnamese origin living abroad. This is seen as a channel for evaluating and selecting talent for the Vietnamese national team.

Coach Mai Duc Chung, who has directly followed and worked with players of Vietnamese origin, affirmed: “The Vietnamese women's national team always welcomes players of Vietnamese origin back to the country to contribute their talents. We hope to welcome them back to play and prove themselves. Once these players obtain Vietnamese citizenship, they will be called up to the national team to assess their abilities.”

According to football expert Phan Anh Tú, the pool of Vietnamese-born players living abroad is not enormous, but it remains an area that needs to be effectively exploited. Besides the efforts of the Vietnam Football Federation, domestic clubs also need to participate more actively in finding Vietnamese-born players residing overseas.

The Vietnam Football Federation also affirmed that, in order to elevate the women's national football team as well as other men's national football teams, in addition to expanding the selection pool, it is still necessary to focus on the youth training system and create highly competitive tournaments. For many years, the fact that only 6-7 units have been developing women's football has been a major limitation to the development of women's football in the country.

According to the President of the Vietnam Football Federation, Tran Quoc Tuan, Vietnamese football is persistently pursuing a strategy of developing its internal strengths. For a strong national team, the domestic league must be of sufficient quality to nurture talent. Alongside this, international friendly tournaments and promotional and media programs for women's football need to be implemented systematically, creating an attractive playing field and providing impetus for the sustainable development of Vietnamese football.

The combination of expanding the pool of Vietnamese players living abroad and developing domestic talent – ​​through improving the quality of the domestic league and training system – will be the key direction for Vietnamese women's football in the coming period. Only then can Vietnamese women's football hope to maintain its leading position in the region before considering further goals.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/su-dung-cau-thu-goc-viet-nang-suc-canh-tranh-cho-bong-da-nu-708162.html