Thailand–Vietnam football rivalry

The football rivalry between Thailand and Vietnam has likely originated from the Siamese-Vietnamese wars and conflicts that lasted for many centuries, due to the long military tradition and the economic rivalry of the two countries, which later expanded into football.[3] There is also a significant difference between Vietnamese footballers and supporters as well as the Vietnamese press and media when refusing to acknowledge the domination of Thai football in Southeast Asia, unlike the rest of Southeast Asia that often consider Thailand as the strongest team, which further develops the importance of the rivalry between these two teams. In fact, Thailand is generally more successful than Vietnam in international competitions, but Vietnamese achievements are better in some certain tournaments. Since the 21st century, although Thailand has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup more than Vietnam, its performances in the final tournament were often worse than Vietnam, when Vietnam reached the quarterfinals twice while Thailand's best achievement was only at the round of 16 in 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[4] Moreover, unlike Thailand, Vietnam has, in some aspect, ability to culminate surprise results despite disadvantages Vietnam endured in a number of competitions, while Thailand, due to its leading status in Southeast Asia, has a harder time to do the same toward stronger opponents, it was example in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup when Vietnam, despite being the lowest-ranked team in the competition and Vietnam's group contained three champions, turned to be the lone host country to reach the knockout phase while Thailand failed to achieve the same.

This is one of the most popular rivalries in the ASEAN region and is often referred as the "El Clásico" or "Battle" of Southeast Asia, because both teams are commonly considered as the two strongest teams in this region. The matches between Thailand and Vietnam always attract the large numbers of press, media, supporters of the two countries as well as other countries of Southeast Asia and Asia. However, the rivalry has grown differently from time to time. During the period against the South Vietnam, Thailand had a worse performance when they only won 4 matches compared to 19 wins of South Vietnam. However, when Vietnam has been unified and its national team returned to international football in 1991, Thailand has showed a far domination against Vietnam when it got 15 wins, 6 draws and only 3 losses. However, the overall performance from the first match of both countries in 1956 until now is still a disadvantage for Thailand against Vietnam, with only 19 wins compared to 22 losses and 10 draws. In the most recent confrontation between these two teams in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Thais were held a goalless draw at Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Hanoi.[5]

Vietnam’s most memorable win against Thailand since its reintegration was in the 2008 AFF Championship final, when a 2-1 win in the first leg in Bangkok set them up for their first ever regional title, which they secured after a 1-1 draw in Hanoi.[6]

• Myanmar-Thailand football rivalry
• Nusantara rivalry
• List of association football rivalries