What number is Tien Linh in the Vietnamese national team?

Nguyen Tien Linh finally broke his scoring drought in the V.League after 7 months without a goal. But this is just the beginning.

Before scoring against SLNA on May 10th, Tien Linh had gone 14 matches without scoring in the V.League 2025/26. Throughout the season, the former Becamex Binh Duong (now Becamex Ho Chi Minh City) star had only scored 4 goals in 23 appearances, 3 of which came in August and September 2025.

The long, bleak period since then is unimaginable for the winner of the 2024 Ballon d'Or, one of Vietnam's best strikers for many years.

For a long period, since the time of coach Park Hang-seo, Tien Linh has always been the number one striker for the national team. Photo: Minh Chien .

His performance declined at the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, and he lost his place on the national team.

Many believe that changing clubs significantly impacted Tien Linh. In his final season (2024/25) at Binh Duong, Linh scored 14 goals in 28 matches, displaying incredible form at both club and national team levels. That was also the season Tien Linh won the Golden Ball in a highly convincing manner.

The move to the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club subsequently had a direct impact on Tien Linh. In a new environment, in a new city, without familiar teammates, having to integrate into a new team, and facing pressure from his own position, Tien Linh is struggling to regain his form.

Nevertheless, at the club level, Tien Linh is still guaranteed a starting spot, wears the captain's armband, and doesn't fear competition from other players. The 28-year-old striker started 19 out of 24 matches for Ho Chi Minh City Police FC in the V.League 2025/26 season, averaging 78 minutes of playing time per match.

“Right now, I would like to keep Tien Linh on the bench, but the team is short of strikers. Dinh Thanh Binh has just returned, while Bui Van Binh is young and not strong enough to start,” said Head Coach Le Huynh Duc of Ho Chi Minh City Police FC after the match against PVF-CAND on the evening of March 15.

But the Vietnamese national team is not the Ho Chi Minh City Police team, and Kim Sang-sik is not Le Huynh Duc. In this competition, the striker from Hai Duong is at a disadvantage.

Predicted attacking lineup for the Vietnamese national team with naturalized new players.

The battle with "the foreigners" and Dinh Bac

Tien Linh was absent from the Vietnamese national team's training camp in March 2026. Despite the absence of the striker born in 1997, the "Golden Star Warriors" still won both matches during this training camp (3-1 against Malaysia and 3-0 against Bangladesh).

In the victory against Malaysia, Nguyen Xuan Son scored a brace. In the 2025/26 V.League season, the Brazilian-born striker's efficiency is 360 minutes per goal. Tien Linh's efficiency is 450 minutes per goal. It's worth remembering that Son has only just returned from injury. Before that, Linh was only a backup for Xuan Son in the 2024 ASEAN Cup. This is not to mention the numerous new rivals that have emerged recently.

Following Xuan Son, the Vietnamese national team has continuously welcomed naturalized players, especially in attacking positions. Do Hoang Hen (Hendrio Araujo) made his first assist, setting up Xuan Son to increase the score to 2-0 in the victory against Malaysia in March.

Nguyen Tai Loc (Geovane Magno) has also recently completed his naturalization process and is eager to wear the Vietnamese national team jersey. All three are from Brazil, possess ample class and experience, and are already familiar with the local players. These three alone would form a super-strong "made by Brazil" attacking line. Xuan Son would play as a central striker, supported from behind by attacking midfielders like Hoang Hen and Tai Loc.

Hoang Hen is currently the player with the highest number of direct contributions to goals (18) in V.League 2025/26, including 10 goals and 8 assists. From the beginning of April until now, the number 11 of Hanoi Club has 5 assists and scored 4 goals, possessing a performance of 144 minutes/goal, significantly higher than Tien Linh's 450 minutes/goal.

Besides Hoang Hen, Tai Loc of Ninh Binh Club has scored 9 goals and provided 3 assists after 1,589 minutes of play in the V.League 2025/26, achieving a performance of 177 minutes per goal.

Leaving aside the physically imposing South American stars like Xuan Son (1.85 m), Hoang Hen (1.81 m), and Tai Loc (1.88 m), Tien Linh (1.80 m) also has to compete with another purely Vietnamese player: Nguyen Dinh Bac (1.79 m). His 10 goals in his last 13 V.League matches demonstrate the form of the reigning Vietnamese Silver Ball winner. He also impresses with his versatility, possessing speed and exceptional dribbling skills, making him suitable for many positions in the attacking line.

All of this creates a suffocating and fierce competition in which Tien Linh is at a disadvantage.

Tien Linh's post on May 10th.

Tien Linh himself admitted that he is currently in poor form. “I apologize for only scoring again in the 15th match. I apologize for disappointing everyone, the management, the head coach, and the entire team. The saddest thing isn't the criticism out there because I deserve to be criticized for my poor performance, but the feeling of letting down those who always believed in me,” the captain of CA TP.HCM Club wrote on his personal Facebook page on the evening of May 10th.

"Today I might score, tomorrow might be difficult, but at least the biggest pressure in Linh's career so far has been somewhat relieved. No matter what, Linh will always try her best, always fight with all her might, because every moment spent on the pitch is the most wonderful moment of her life."

The "tomorrow might be difficult again" that Tien Linh mentioned is probably "tomorrow" for the Vietnamese national team.

Source: https://znews.vn/tien-linh-la-so-may-o-tuyen-viet-nam-post1654939.html