In 2022, when the national women's football team won a ticket to the 2023 World Cup, surely many people turned their heads to look back at the road they had traveled and exclaimed "Unbelievable!".
Because, with a 25-year journey, starting from the land of "student football", with difficulties difficult to describe in words, the maturity of generations of Vietnamese female players is truly admirable, worthy of recognition. And worthy of pride.
Starting point
In fact, as sports people in the past still remember, the idea of women's football in Vietnam appeared in 1984, but it was not until 1990 that it began to take shape with teams in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
And it took 7 years for the national women's team to be established to participate in the SEA Games. The feeling is not too long, but from all angles, from training equipment, competition, facilities to social barriers and prejudices, those 7 years are a journey enough to summarize the story of Vietnamese women's football and explain why the "golden dragon female warriors" are so strong and resilient.
Until now, many people, including coach Mai Duc Chung and generations of players, still share memories, still evoke memories of that "early" period.
Of course, at that time, no one talked about the World Cup (the first World Women's Football Championship was held in 1991). Even I didn't hear the name, I didn't know what it looked like in the context of information scarcity and underdeveloped media like today.
But it can be said that the bronze medal right in the first time "going to sea" (SEA Games 19 in Indonesia) is a clear sign of the potential of Vietnamese women's football to develop. Reality has proven it.
Dominating Southeast Asia
From participating in the regional playground late, then witnessing the dominance of Thai women's football, or strong opponents such as Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnamese women's football rose strongly. First winning the SEA Games in 2001, then 4 years later equaling the number of championships of the Thai women's team (3).
From 2017 to 2023, the Vietnamese women's football team set a record with 4 consecutive SEA Games championships, raising the total number of gold medals to 8, while Thailand stagnated from 2013, with 5 championships.
Along with that are 3 championships of the Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship. Although the achievements at the Asian Cup and ASIAD are not good, regularly participating in these events is an opportunity for players to learn and develop a good career.
World Cup aspirations
The continental playground is really still too far for Vietnamese women's football to dream of achievements, but in the mid-decade of the second decade of the 21st century, when FIFA decided to increase the number of teams participating in the World Cup finals to 24, Vietnamese women's football began to see opportunities.
In fact, once again, proving the extraordinary strength of Vietnamese women. Just recalling the ticket to the 2023 World Cup won in the context of too many difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic is enough.
Women's football is not as concerned as men's colleagues, but generations of players can be proud of the journey from building foundations, building foundations, building, to reach the World Cup dream with the U20 men's team, the men's futsal team. The dream becomes a reality.
The strength has reached a certain level, the World Cup aspiration has become something very real, no longer far-fetched, with the qualifying journey being "visible" through the Asian Cup.
However, in emotional sublimation, the failure at the recent 2026 Asian Cup left regret, but at the same time sounded a stronger alarm about the goal of developing women's football needs to be more sustainable, instead of running after a short-term period.
In fact, the warning came from the Southeast Asian Championship and SEA Games in 2025, to lead to the story of the force.
Difficulties are still very large, from the lack of attention to the national championship lacking much competitiveness, the locality's development of women's football is not much, it is still necessary to implement solutions simultaneously, including focusing on training U generations... but there is no other way, the aspiration must be turned into action.
Having a goal means having a path, with practical and appropriate solutions.
In too many difficulties still developing strongly, there is no reason why the present cannot develop firmly, to have a more frequent presence at the World Cup.
