Vietnam national football team

The Vietnam national football team (Đội tuyển bóng đá quốc gia Việt Nam) represents Vietnam in men's international football (bóng đá, đá banh) and is controlled by the Vietnam Football Federation, the governing body of football in Vietnam. Vietnam was introduced to football by the French in the 19th century during the French colonial period. However, due to various conflicts that occurred in the country throughout the 20th century, the development of Vietnamese football was significantly hampered. When Vietnam was split into Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North) and Republic of Vietnam (South) in 1954, two national teams which existed simultaneously and were controlled by separate governing bodies. After the country was unified in 1976, the separate governing bodies were combined and renamed to Vietnam Football Federation (Liên đoàn Bóng đá Việt Nam). Since the 1990s, Vietnam has re-integrated into global football, achieving some success in SEA and reaching the final round of World Cup qualifications in 2022 in AFC. Vietnamese supporters are dubbed to be passionate, having had large celebrations over the team's achievements in senior and youth levels. Vietnam's football team has been nicknamed Golden Star Warriors or The Red Warriors. Football in Vietnam The introduction of football into Vietnam traced its roots in 1896, during the era of colonial French Cochinchina. At the early stage, the sport were only played among French civil servants, merchants, and soldiers. The French then encouraged local Vietnamese to play football and other sports that were introduced to them in order to divert their interest from politics, resulting in football being spread to the northern and central region. On 20 July 1908, the newspaper Southern Luc Tan Van reported the match between two local Vietnamese teams for the first time. A football guidebook published in 1925 by Vietnamese doctor Pham Van Tiec attracted the interest among Vietnamese youngsters. By 1928, the Vietnamese had established the Annamite Sports Bureau and in the same year they sent a football team to compete in Singapore.