The Republic of Vietnam national football team (Vietnamese: Đội tuyển bóng đá quốc gia Việt Nam Cộng hòa) or the State of Vietnam national football team (Vietnamese: Đội tuyển bóng đá Quốc gia Việt Nam) was the national football team from 1949 to 1975 representing the State of Vietnam and later the Republic of Vietnam, known as "South Vietnam".

The State of Vietnam joined the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) in 1952 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954 as the founding member.The A–Z of Asian Football 97–98; 1997 Asian Football Confederation香港足球總會九十週年紀念特刊 (Hong Kong Football Association 90th Anniversary Booklet) 2004 Following the country’s reunification under the North in 1975, Vietnam also inherited South Vietnam’s memberships in FIFA and the AFC. The South Vietnamese football association was treated by these bodies as the only legitimate Vietnamese association, as the State of Vietnam and later the Republic of Vietnam claimed sovereignty over all of Vietnam from 1949 to 1975. The team started to play under the State of Vietnam in January 1949. After the State of Vietnam gained complete independence from France in June 1954 and Vietnam was divided in July, it existed side by side with a separate North Vietnam team, which represented the communist-controlled northern portion of the country from 1956 to 1975. Unlike its southern counterpart, the North Vietnamese football association was never allowed to join FIFA or the AFC. South Vietnam took part in the first two Asian Cups finals (1956 and 1960), finishing last both times. Despite the fierce wars, it was one of strongest teams in Southeast Asia.

The South Vietnam team played their last games at 1976 AFC Asian Cup qualification in March 1975, and ceased to exist after the Fall of Saigon in April, when the Vietnam War ended. The North and South regions combined into the unified Vietnam in 1975, with the Vietnam national team replacing both the North and South teams. The unified republic was allowed to keep South Vietnam's membership of FIFA and the AFC, resulting in the South Vietnam team's historical record usually being counted as part of the overall record of the Vietnam national team, while results for the North Vietnam team are not commonly included as part of the record.

Tournament record FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearResult 1950Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member 1954Entry not accepted by FIFAEntry not accepted by FIFA 1958 to 1970Did not enterDid not enter 1974Did not qualify310215Total——––––––310215

1974 FIFA World Cup qualification The only World Cup qualification campaign which South Vietnam entered was the for the 1974 World Cup. They were placed in Zone A of the AFC and OFC qualification in Seoul, South Korea. On 16 May 1973 they beat Thailand 1–0 to qualify for Group 1. On 20 May, South Vietnam lost their opening game 0–4 to Japan and four days later they lost 1–0 to Hong Kong and were eliminated. Hong Kong and Japan advanced but neither got any further, losing play-offs for the next round to South Korea and Israel respectively.

Asian Cup AFC Asian Cup recordQualification record Year Result Squad 1956 Fourth place4th301269Squad211073 1960 Fourth place4th3003212Squad220051 1964Did not qualify320197 1968420244 1972WithdrewWithdrew 1976Did not qualify4004110TotalFourth place4th6 0 1 5 8 21 –15 7 1 7 26 25

Asian Cup Finals ResultsYearScoreResult1956 2–2 Draw 1–2 Loss 3–5 Loss1960 1–5 Loss 0–2 Loss 1–5 Loss

AFC Asian Cup recordFirst match 2–2 (9 September 1956; Causeway Bay, Hong Kong)Last match 1–5 (14 October 1960; Seoul, South Korea)Biggest winNoneBiggest defeat 1–5 (14 October 1960; Seoul, South Korea) 5–1 (19 October 1960; Seoul, South Korea)Best result Fourth place in 1956 and 1960Worst resultNone

Olympic Games recordQualification recordYearResult 1952Did not enterNo qualification 1956Qualified, but withdrew220095 1960Did not enterDid not enter 1964Did not qualify411246 19685212145 1972Did not enterDid not enter Total0/16–––––––115242716

Asian Games

Asian GamesYearRoundGPWDLGFGA 1951 Did not enter 1954 Preliminary round2 1 0 1 5 5 1958 Quarter-finals 3 1 1 1 8 5 1962 Fourth place 5 2 0 3 12 8 1966 Preliminary round3 1 1 1 2 6 1970 2 0 0 2 0 3 1974 Did not enter Total Fourth Place 15 5 2 8 27 27

Asian Games HistoryYearRoundScoreResult1954Round 1 2–3 LossRound 1 3–2 Win1958Round 1 1–1 DrawRound 1 6–1 WinQuarter-finals 1–3 Loss1962Round 1 0–1 LossRound 1 6–0 WinRound 1 3–0 WinSemi-finals 2–3 LossBronze medal 1–4 Loss1966Round 1 2–1 WinRound 1 0–0 DrawRound 1 0–5 Loss1970Round 1 0–2 LossRound 1 0–1 Loss

Southeast Asian Games

Southeast Asian Games recordYearResult 1959 Champions 4 3 0 1 11 3 1961Third place 3 1 1 1 8 2 1965 4 2 0 2 8 5 1967Runners-up 3 2 0 1 11 2 1969Group stage 2 0 1 1 1 2 1971Third place 4 1 2 1 5 4 1973Runners-up 4 1 1 2 9 7Total1 title2410595325

1971: Pesta Sukan Cup (join-winners with India)

Match results

Head-to-head record Key

The list shown below shows the South Vietnam national football team all-time international record against opposing nations. Against Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD 2 0 0 2 0 2 –2 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 14 2 2 10 12 25 –12 13 7 3 3 14 14 0 10 4 2 4 16 12 4 11 2 2 7 8 17 –9 15 5 1 9 25 36 –11 4 1 0 3 4 8 –4 9 4 0 5 13 15 –2 1 0 0 1 1 2 –1 6 5 1 0 24 1 23 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 11 6 1 4 16 29 –1 20 4 6 10 30 42 –1 1 1 0 0 5 1 4 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 4 4 0 0 25 2 23 19 13 5 1 48 26 22 18 1 6 11 18 44 –26 10 3 3 4 18 15 3 28 20 3 5 59 27 32

Managerial history Trương Văn Ký (1954) Nguyễn Văn Bông (1956) Lý Đức (1956) Lê Hữu Đức (1960) Lê Hữu Đức (1963–1964) Karl-Heinz Weigang (1966–1968) Nguyễn Ngọc Thanh (1969–1970) Nguyễn Thành Sự (1971) Trần Văn Thông (1971) Từ Bá Nhẫn (1973–1974) Nguyễn Thành Sự (1974–1975)

Honours Continental AFC Asian Cup Fourth place (2): 1956, 1960

Asian Games Fourth place (1): 1962 Regional Southeast Asian Games Gold medal (1): 1959 Silver medal (4): 1967, 1973 Bronze medal (4): 1961, 1965, 1971

Friendly South Vietnam Independence Cup Champions (6): 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1974 Runners-up (2): 1971, 1972 Merdeka Tournament Champions (1): 1966 King's Cup Third place (2): 1969, 1971 Pesta Sukan Cup Champions (1): 1971 Thai Army Cup Champions (1): 1974

See also South Vietnam national under-20 football team Football in Vietnam

Notes

References