Immediately after the 2-0 victory over Malaysia at My Dinh Stadium on the evening of August 19, Chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan went down to the field to congratulate and encourage coach Kim Sang-sik and his team. With this result, the Vietnamese team won the right to enter the final of ASEAN Cup 2026 with a total score of 4-0 after two legs.
Before entering the final match, the Vietnamese team was rewarded a total of 4.5 billion VND by the VFF. This is encouragement for the impressive performance of coach Kim Sang-sik's team on the journey to defend the championship.
In the second leg semi-final, Xuan Son continued to leave a strong mark. Put on the field in the 59th minute, the striker born in 1997 only took 3 minutes to score the opening goal. In the 89th minute, he completed a double, helping the Vietnamese team close the match with a 2-0 victory.
Previously, VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan assigned the task of successfully defending the ASEAN Cup championship for the Vietnamese national team. This is a historically significant goal when Vietnamese football has never won the tournament in two consecutive tournaments.
The Vietnamese national team has won the ASEAN Cup in 2008, 2018 and 2024. However, after three titles, the team has not yet been able to successfully defend the championship in the next tournament.
Overcoming Malaysia, coach Kim Sang-sik's team only has two matches left with Thailand to complete the goal. The first leg final takes place at 8:00 PM on August 22nd at Rajamangala Stadium, while the second leg is held at My Dinh Stadium at 8:00 PM on August 26th.
According to the plan, the Vietnamese team left Hanoi on the morning of August 20th to go to Bangkok. The flight is scheduled to depart at 8:50 am and land at Suvarnabhumi airport at 10:50 am.
VFF has prepared conditions for travel, accommodation and meals so that the team can quickly stabilize in Thailand. Against the most successful opponent in the region with 7 ASEAN Cup championships, the Vietnamese team will aim for the last two matches with the goal of creating a historical milestone: successfully defending the throne for the first time.
