Looking for overseas Vietnamese players for the Vietnamese women's football team.

Vietnamese players living abroad would help strengthen the Vietnamese women's national football team. However, finding suitable candidates is not easy.

On July 4th, the Vietnam U20 women's team continued their training session at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center ( Hanoi ), in preparation for the 2026 AFC U20 Women's Championship Qualifiers. The training session featured young striker Linda Pham – a Vietnamese-American player born in 2006 – who recently joined the team and participated in her first training session with the Vietnam U20 women's team, after being given the opportunity by the VFF and coach Okiyama Masahiko to prove her abilities.

According to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), Linda Pham is a Vietnamese national, born and raised in the Netherlands to Vietnamese parents. Standing at 1.68m tall, Linda Pham started playing football at the age of 6 and currently plays for a club in the Netherlands as an attacking midfielder and forward.

Linda Pham tries out for the Vietnam U20 women's national team. Photo: VFF

“We are gradually finalizing our personnel and tactics for the qualifiers. The players are all very determined, especially with important matches ahead against Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, and Hong Kong (China). Having new faces like Linda Pham will give the team more options and momentum,” said Coach Okiyama Masahiko.

The recent appearance of Vietnamese players living abroad in women's football teams is a positive sign. This gives coaches more personnel options. However, not all players meet the professional standards.

Recently, when the Vietnamese women's national football team finalized its roster for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers, Vietnamese-American midfielder Nguyen Hoang Nam Mi was left out.

Explaining this, coach Mai Duc Chung said: “I really hope that Vietnamese players living abroad will return to contribute to the Vietnamese women's national team. We are very happy that Nam Mi has joined the team, but due to professional reasons, she cannot be included in this tournament. In this training camp, the Vietnamese women's national team also has the services of some young players such as Minh Chuyen, Nguyen Thi Hoa, and Thu Em.”

While the men's national football team has seen success with naturalized players and overseas Vietnamese players, women's football is still in the process of searching for new talents for the future.

At the club level, Ho Chi Minh City FC is a team that has been quick to find players to compete in continental tournaments. In March 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City women's team registered two Vietnamese-born players, Ashley Tram Anh and Chelsea Le, to participate in the AFC Women's Champions League 2024-2025 and the Women's National Cup 2025. In fact, after the Vietnamese women's national team participated in the 2023 World Cup, the VFF leadership quickly recognized the need to expand the search for naturalized players. This helps strengthen the team.

The VFF President stated: "This can be considered an international trend that many national teams have adopted. Vietnamese football is also researching and ensuring a balance between domestic training and attracting talent from abroad, especially players with Vietnamese blood."

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has opened opportunities for all professional, non-professional, and youth football systems to attract players of Vietnamese origin. If Vietnamese expatriate players or players of Vietnamese origin wish to contribute to the Vietnamese national team, they can return to play in domestic leagues, thereby gradually adapting to the culture and meeting other requirements.

Regarding men's football, several Vietnamese players living abroad have returned to play in the V.League. The VFF (Vietnam Football Federation) always strives to facilitate opportunities for players who wish to represent the Vietnamese national team, provided they are selected by the head coach based on criteria such as professional skills, cultural adaptability, procedural requirements, and especially a strong desire to contribute to the country and Vietnamese football."

Given the recent successes of the Vietnamese women's national team, it is hoped that more Vietnamese players living abroad will emerge.

Hanoi police team drawn into a tough group at the Southeast Asian tournament.

Results of the draw for the group stage of the 2025-2026 Southeast Asian Club Football Championship.

On the afternoon of July 4th in Bangkok (Thailand), the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) held the draw for the 2025-2026 Southeast Asian Club Championship, which includes two representatives from Vietnamese football: Nam Dinh Steel and Hanoi Police. According to the draw results, Hanoi Police is in Group A, along with Buriram United and BG Pathum United (Thailand), Selangor FC (Malaysia), Tampines Rovers (Singapore), and the winner of the play-off match between Kasuka FC (Cambodia) and Dynamic Herb Cebu FC (Philippines).

Meanwhile, Nam Dinh Green Steel is in Group B along with Bangkok United (Thailand), Johor Darul Tazim (Malaysia), Lion City Sailors (Singapore), Svay Rieng (Cambodia), and the winner of the play-off match between Ezra FC (Laos) and Shan United (Myanmar).

According to the plan, the play-off stage will take place on August 8, 2025. The group stage will be played in a round-robin format from August 2025 to February 2026, with each team playing three home and three away matches. The top four teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals will take place on February 26 and 27, 2026, followed by the semi-finals on May 6 and 13, 2026, played in a two-legged knockout format. The two finals will be held in a home-and-away format, tentatively scheduled for May 20 and 27, 2026. The 2025-2026 Southeast Asian Club Championship will expand from 12 to 14 teams, increasing the total number of matches from 42 to 54.

The two Vietnamese representatives participating in the tournament also received high praise for their strength and were expected to become two contenders in the race for the championship. In another development, Indonesia did not participate due to a disagreement between the AFF and the Indonesian National League (LIB) organizing committee regarding the selection of participating teams. The AFF requested the Liga 1 champion and runner-up, but the LIB nominated the 3rd and 4th ranked teams to allow stronger teams to focus on the Asian competition. Because the AFF did not approve, Indonesia decided to withdraw, leaving only 14 teams participating. ( HH )

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/tim-cau-thu-viet-kieu-cho-bong-da-nu-viet-nam-i773782/