The Vietnamese team will begin their journey to defend the ASEAN Cup 2026 championship with a confrontation with Timor Leste on July 24th at Chonburi Stadium (Thailand).
This is an opportunity for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team to aim for a favorable start in the tournament. Besides the goal of winning 3 points, the Korean strategist is also facing the possibility of setting a remarkable milestone in the history of Vietnamese football.
After a 4-0 victory over Myanmar in a friendly match on July 18, the Vietnamese team extended their unbeaten streak to 18 under Mr. Kim Sang-sik. Since taking over the team at the end of 2024, the Korean coach and the team have won 16 matches and drawn 2 matches.
That series of matches spans many tournaments. Prominent is the journey to the throne at ASEAN Cup 2024 with an unbeaten record of 8 matches, along with the Asian Cup 2027 final qualifying campaign with 6 consecutive wins to win the right to enter the finals with the first place in Group F.
These positive results also helped the Vietnamese team return to 99th place in the FIFA rankings after more than two years of absence from the top 100.
With 18 consecutive unbeaten matches, Mr. Kim has equaled the longest unbeaten streak of the Vietnamese team ever set in the 2016-2018 period. However, the previous record was created under the guidance of three different coaches including Nguyen Huu Thang, Mai Duc Chung and Park Hang-seo, while the entire current streak of matches took place under Mr. Kim Sang-sik.
If he overcomes Timor Leste, the 49-year-old strategist will officially own the longest unbeaten streak of a head coach of the Vietnamese national team.
However, his bigger goal at ASEAN Cup 2026 is still to successfully defend the regional championship title. After being crowned in 2008, 2018 and 2024, the Vietnamese team has never held the throne in the next tournament. This will be an important challenge for Mr. Kim and his students in the upcoming campaign.
