Vietnam at the AFC Asian Cup

Vietnam has qualified for four AFC Asian Cups so far, in 1956, 1960, 2007 and 2019.

With the establishment of the AFC Asian Cup in 1956, Vietnam—known as the Republic of Vietnam or South Vietnam, had made its first appearances in the two maiden 1956 and 1960 editions, since South Vietnam was a member of FIFA in contrast to North Vietnam. Vietnam won fourth place in both editions. By the end of the Vietnam War however, this would be Vietnam's only appearances in the AFC Asian Cup for 47 years, due to the country's total destruction aftermath and subsequent conflicts between Vietnam and its neighbours. This had a serious impact and weakened Vietnam from a football powerhouse into one of Asia's weakest teams.

After returning to football in the 1990s, Vietnam did not participate in the Asian Cup for 11 consecutive editions before being selected as host in 2007 together with Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Despite these 47 years of failing to qualify, Vietnam surprised the continent in 2007 with a 2–0 victory over the UAE, a draw with Qatar and in spite of losing 1–4 to Asia's giant Japan, Vietnam qualified to the quarter-finals while three other co-hosts failed to do so, before losing to eventual champions Iraq.

However, after the dramatic run in 2007, Vietnam failed to qualify again for the 2011 and 2015 editions, before finally returning in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. With the recent rise of Vietnamese football on the international stage, such as the participation of the fustal and U-20 team in the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup and 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup; especially the Olympic team, which won the silver medal in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, Vietnam was expected to shine in the 2019 Asian Cup despite being positioned with so many hard and difficult opponents. Vietnam then reached the quarter-finals.

1956 Asian Cup
Main article: 1956 AFC Asian Cup

Vietnam, as South Vietnam, participated in the inaugural edition of the Asian Cup, having edged Malaya in a 7–3 aggregate qualification, together with three other teams, host Hong Kong, South Korea and Israel. It would be Vietnam's debut in the Asian Cup.[1]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 South Korea 321096+35
 Israel 320165+14
 Hong Kong 302167−12
 South Vietnam 301269−31

In the opening match against host Hong Kong, then-Asia's top teams, South Vietnam could manage only a 2–2 draw over the host.

South Vietnam 2 – 2 Hong Kong
Trần Văn Tổng  30'
Lê Hữu Đức  64'		 Chu Wing Wah  59' (pen.)
Lau Chi Lam  79'
Attendance: 30,000

In the second game, South Vietnam would have been edged, but not without putting a good fight towards Israel, in a 1–2 defeat.

Israel 2 – 1 South Vietnam
Stelmach  14', 27' Trần Văn Tổng  58'
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Tommy Tucker (England)

In the last match, South Vietnam and South Korea created a thriller, which ended with the 5–3 victory for the Koreans. Eventually, South Vietnam won fourth place for the first time, and also their best result to date.

South Korea 5 – 3 South Vietnam
Sung Nak-woon  5'
Woo Sang-kwon  41' (pen.), 58'
Choi Chung-min  57', 66'		 Trải Văn Đào  20'
Lê Hữu Đức  51', 63'
Attendance: 11,000

1960 Asian Cup
Main article: 1960 AFC Asian Cup

South Vietnam would have made their second debut in the tournament, after successfully edged Singapore and Malaya in the qualification round. In there, they once again faced South Korea and Israel, with debutant Republic of China. It would be a more disappointing performance than four years ago, as South Vietnam were all defeated in three matches, especially losing 1–5 to both South Korea and Israel. South Vietnam won fourth place twice, and it would have remained as Vietnam's only two appearances in the Asian Cup for the next 47 years.[1]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 South Korea 330091+86
 Israel 320164+24
 Republic of China 31022202
 South Vietnam 3003212−100
South Korea 5 – 1 South Vietnam
Cho Yoon-ok  15', 71'
Woo Sang-kwon  27'
Choi Chung-min  47'
Moon Jung-sik  56'		 Nguyễn Văn Tu  70'
Attendance: 30,000
Republic of China 2 – 0 South Vietnam
South Vietnam 1 – 5 Israel
Trần Văn Nhung  68' (pen.) R. Levi  13'
Stelmach  18'
S. Levi  25'
Menchel  32'
Aharonskind  70'
Attendance: 15,000

Since then, due to the later Vietnam War and subsequent conflicts, Vietnam could not play any big tournament for the next 47 years, before returning to international stage in 2007.

2007 Asian Cup
Main article: 2007 AFC Asian Cup

In 2004, Vietnam, together with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were awarded as hosts for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, signalled the return of Vietnam after 47 years. However, Vietnam was pushed into a tough group, consisting three champions: Japan, then-Asian champions; the United Arab Emirates, then-Gulf champions and Qatar, with the squad mostly made up from 2006 Asian Games in which Qatar won the gold medal. Being in a tough group, Vietnam was not expected to pass through nor even having a point, but rather just a point basket for these teams.

Nonetheless, under Austrian manager Alfred Riedl, Vietnam stunned all predictions. In the opening account, Vietnam surprised by defeating Gulf champions UAE, before drew another Gulf team, Qatar. Although losing the final match against Japan, Vietnam wrote history as the only host to qualify for the tournament's quarter-finals while Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia failed to do so.[2] However, Vietnam would have to end their fairytale after being defeated by latter champion Iraq. It remains as Vietnam's best performance ever since the reunification of Vietnam.[3]

Main article: 2007 AFC Asian Cup Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Japan 321083+57
 Vietnam 311145−14
 United Arab Emirates 310236−33
 Qatar 302134−12
Vietnam 2–0 United Arab Emirates
Huỳnh Quang Thanh  64'
Lê Công Vinh  73'		 Report
Attendance: 39,450
Referee: Talaat Najm (Lebanon)
Qatar 1–1 Vietnam
Soria  79' Report Phan Thanh Bình  32'
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Masoud Moradi (Iran)
Vietnam 1–4 Japan
Suzuki  8' (o.g.) Report Maki  12', 59'
Endō  31'
S. Nakamura  53'
Attendance: 40,000

Knockout stage
Main article: 2007 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Iraq 2–0 Vietnam
Mahmoud  2', 65' Report
Attendance: 9,720

2019 Asian Cup
Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup

Vietnam would have to wait for another twelve years to return for the AFC Asian Cup, this time to be hosted in the UAE. By then, Vietnam was placed with strong opponents, including two former Asian champions, Iran and Iraq, with the unknown debutant Yemen. This is the third times Vietnam was drawn with Asia's no. 1 team, this time is Iran, after having drawn with South Korea in two inaugural editions, and Japan in 2007 editions.

Although Vietnam showed a great effort in the first two matches, the young team could not get any point. In the last match against Yemen, Quang Hai scored a goal before Ngoc Hai secured a win for Vietnam by a successful penalty kick. Vietnam had to wait until the last match of the group stage between Lebanon and North Korea to see the team can go to the knock-out stage. Vietnam and Lebanon finished their matches with their same statistics. However, Vietnam was the last team to enter Round of 16 by having a higher discipline score (Vietnam −5, Lebanon −7). This is the second time Vietnam qualified for the knock-out stage.

Vietnam was considered as the underdogs when facing Jordan in the Round of 16. Jordan did not concede any goal in the group stage after two wins against the defending champion Australia and Syria, and a draw with Palestine after already qualified to the knock-out stage as group winner. However, Jordan decided to play defensively and Vietnam dominated the match. After 120 minutes, the score was 1–1. Vietnam won the match after the penalty shootout and qualified to the quarterfinals.

Vietnam faced Japan, the most successful team at the Asian Cup, in the quarterfinals. It was the first match ever of the Asian Cup history using VAR. Japan was denied a goal in the first half and awarded a penalty in the second half – which was converted into the only goal of the match.

Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iran 3 2 1 0 7 0 +7 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Iraq 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 7
3  Vietnam 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
4  Yemen 3 0 0 3 0 10 −10 0
Source: AFC
Iraq 3–2 Vietnam
 Report
Attendance: 4,779
Vietnam 0–2 Iran
Report
Attendance: 10,841
Vietnam 2–0 Yemen
 Report
Attendance: 8,237
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Knockout stage
Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage
Round of 16
Jordan 1–1 (a.e.t.) Vietnam
 Report
Penalties
 2–4
Attendance: 14,205
Quarter-finals
Vietnam 0–1 Japan
Report
Attendance: 8,954

Overview
AFC Asian Cup record AFC Asian Cup qualification
Year Result Pos. Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1956Fourth Place4/4301269211073
1960Fourth Place4/43003212220051
1964Did not qualify
1968
1972
1976Did not enterDid not enter
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996Did not qualify3201135
20003201142
20046303813
2007Quarter-finals8/16411247Host
2011Did not qualify6123611
20156105515
2019Quarter-finals8/24511357124531611
2023To be determinedTo be determined
Total Best: Fourth place 4/17 15 2 3 10 17 35 40 16 8 16 74 61

References
  1. "Asian Cup: Know Your History - Part One (1956-1988)". Goal.com. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  2. "Iraq's 2007 AFC Asian Cup fairytale". Asian Football Confederation. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018. Vietnam were playing in their first AFC Asian Cup since 1960 as South Vietnam, and goals from Huynh Quang Thanh and Le Cong Vinh secured the country's first-ever win in the competition with a 2-0 victory over the UAE, before a 1-1 draw with Qatar was enough to see the co-hosts make the knockout stage.
  3. Thành Trung; Ngọc Thanh (21 July 2007). "Tứ kết Asian Cup 2007, Việt Nam - Iraq (0-2): Dừng bước ở thiên đường!" [Asian Cup Quarterfinals 2007, Vietnam - Iraq (0-2): Stop walking in paradise!] (in Vietnamese). Việt Báo. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
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