Vietnam at the AFC Asian Cup

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	3	2	1	0	9	6	+3	5
Israel	3	2	0	1	6	5	+1	4
Hong Kong	3	0	2	1	6	7	−1	2
South Vietnam	3	0	1	2	6	9	−3	1

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.

9 September 1956

19:00

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

Government Stadium, Hong Kong

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.

12 September 1956

19:00

Israel	2 – 1	South Vietnam
Stelmach 14', 27'		Trần Văn Tổng 58'

Government Stadium, Hong Kong

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.

15 September 1956

19:00

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'

Government Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 11,000

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	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	6
Israel	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	4
Republic of China	3	1	0	2	2	2	0	2
South Vietnam	3	0	0	3	2	12	−10	0

14 October 1960

15:15

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'

Hyochang Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 30,000

17 October 1960

Republic of China	2 – 0	South Vietnam

Hyochang Stadium, Seoul

19 October 1960

South Vietnam	1 – 5	Israel
Trần Văn Nhung 68' (pen.)		R. Levi 13' Stelmach 18' S. Levi 25' Menchel 32' Aharonskind 70'

Hyochang Stadium, Seoul

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.

In 2004, Vietnam, together with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were awarded as hosts for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, signalled the return of a national team from 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]

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 time 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.