High-profile candidates
The organizing committee of the 2025 Vietnam Golden Ball Awards has officially announced the shortlist for categories, thereby marking the final stage of the process of voting for the most outstanding faces of Vietnamese football in the year.
The 2025 Vietnam Golden Ball Award organized by Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper is an annual activity to honor players who have made outstanding contributions to the country's football, considering both their expertise, performance and image.
In the most important category, the Golden Ball for men, 5 players on the shortlist include: Nguyen Tien Linh, Nguyen Quang Hai, Nguyen Dinh Bac, Nguyen Hoang Duc and Tran Trung Kien. These are all players who have maintained stable performance in 2025, with clear contributions at the club level as well as the national team.
The Women's Golden Ball category recognized the presence of Huynh Nhu, Ngan Thi Van Su, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, Tran Thi Thuy Trang and Pham Hai Yen.
In the futsal event, 5 candidates were shortlisted, including Nguyen Da Hai, Chau Doan Phat, Nguyen Thinh Phat, Tu Minh Quang and Pham Van Tu.
Meanwhile, the Best Young Player category has the appearances of Van Khang, Dinh Bac, Thanh Nhan and Hieu Minh. Outstanding young female players have the following nominees: Ngoc Minh Chuyen, Luu Hoang Van, Nguyen Thi Minh Anh and Ngan Thi Thanh Hieu.
With the category of Outstanding Foreign Player, 4 names included in the shortlist are Leonardo Artur, Alan Sebastiao, Patrik Le Giang and Caio Cesar - foreign players who left a clear professional mark in V.League and domestic tournaments.
Voting and scoring process
According to the regulations issued by the Organizing Committee, the voting process will be implemented from the beginning of November 2025. The votes were sent to delegates including sports industry leaders, coaches, captains of football teams, experts and sports journalists. Delegates can choose players in the nomination list or add other faces if they are more deserving.
The Organizing Committee will collect the votes on December 21, 2025 and conduct a vote counting, determine the validity of the votes to calculate the official results. For the Golden Ball (men's, women's, futsal) titles, players voted Golden Ball receive 3 points, Silver Ball 2 points and Bronze Ball 1 point. The person with the highest total score will win the highest title in each category.
The remaining categories such as Outstanding Young Pioneer, Outstanding Young Pioneer and Outstanding Foreign Player will be awarded to the player with the most votes.
In addition, the Organizing Committee also awarded the "Dedication" award to individuals with long-term contributions to Vietnamese football and the "Most Favorite Player" award through online fan voting.
Journalist Thanh Lam - Deputy Organizing Committee of the award said that the compilation list was made based on a wide consultation of experts. "We set criteria for fairness, transparency and respect the independent evaluation of voting delegates. The short list reflects relatively fully the most prominent faces of Vietnamese football in 2025, Mr. Lam shared.
According to the plan, the 2025 Vietnam Golden Ball Awards Gala will take place at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow (December 26) at Ben Thanh Theater (Saigon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City). This will be the time when the titles are officially announced, concluding the most anticipated tournament season for Vietnamese football in the year.
