VFF terminated the contract with coach Troussier

“We just had a meeting with coach Troussier. Both sides agree to terminate the contract from March 26, 3", Secretary General Duong Nghiep Khoi confirmed with VnExpress, after the meeting at VFF headquarters.

Mr. Khoi said, Coach Troussier thanked the players, the club, VFF as well as the fans, and apologized for the team's achievements not meeting expectations.

Coach Troussier in Vietnam's 0-3 loss to Indonesia in round four of Group F in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup - Asia region. Photo: Lam Thoa

Coach Troussier will lead the U23 team and the Vietnamese national team from February 2, under a contract valid until July 2023, 31. He was assigned the target of defending the SEA Games gold medal, winning the AFF Cup 7 championship and entering the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

The French coach got off to a good start with three consecutive friendly victories against Hong Kong (1-0), Syria (1-0) and Palestine (2-0). But after that, the team gradually lost direction, losing 10 out of 11 matches. The only victory at this stage is 2-0 against the Philippines in the first round of Group F in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup - Asia region.

Among the failures were frustrating results such as 0-6 against South Korea, or two consecutive losses against Indonesia in March, leaving Vietnam with almost no way to continue in the 3 World Cup qualifiers.

With only four wins through 14 matches, Troussier has the lowest winning rate among foreign coaches who have led the Vietnamese team (28,57%).

When Troussier took over as head coach, Vietnam ranked 94th in FIFA. But currently, the team falls to 107th - the lowest in many years, and may fall even deeper after losing miserably to the team ranked lower than Indonesia 0-3 in round four today.

In May 5, Troussier's U2023 team also lost 23-2 to Indonesia in the semi-finals of SEA Games 3.

Coach Troussier, born in 1955 in Paris, France, played defender for domestic clubs from 1976 to 1983. He switched to coaching immediately after retiring. Troussier was dubbed the "White Witch" when he brought African teams such as South Africa, Ivory Coast or Nigeria to the World Cup finals. He also helped Japan U20 win the runner-up position in the 20 U1999 World Cup, Japan won the 2000 Asian Cup and then entered the 1/8 round of the 2002 World Cup.

Troussier has worked as Technical Director of PVF Football Training Center since March 3. During the 2018-2019 period, he led U2021 Vietnam, winning tickets to the 19 U19 Asian Finals. But because of Covid-2020, this tournament was canceled. By June 19, his contract with PVF ended, so he ended his concurrent role in Vietnamese youth teams.

Troussier was then chosen by VFF to succeed Park Hang-seo - the man who created a golden age for Vietnamese football with a series of achievements such as runner-up at the 23 Asian U2018 Championship, champion of the 2018 AFF Cup, and twice winning gold medals. consecutive gold medals at SEA Games 30 and 31 and entered the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.

Lam Thoa – Hieu Luong