Vietnam women's futsal team: Reaching the World Cup, difficult or easy?

Vietnam women's futsal team dreams of World Cup

The Southeast Asian futsal championship won on the evening of November 21 in the Philippines has given the Vietnamese women's futsal team a boost. After the progress shown in the friendly tournament in Thailand last month (surpassing the host to win the championship), coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team have shown maturity in terms of technique, tactics and tactics, as well as the courage to overcome difficult times against strong opponents.

In 2013, the Vietnamese women's futsal team also won the Southeast Asian championship, but that tournament was only a stepping stone for the SEA Games. But when it came to the SEA Games, Tran Thi Thuy Trang and her teammates had never been able to overthrow the dominance of the Thai women's team. This title has a very different meaning. It is a testament to the efforts of the Vietnamese girls. To dream of the World Cup, the Vietnamese women's futsal team needs such a big enough momentum.

Vietnam women's futsal team wins Southeast Asian championship

In 2025, for the first time in history, the women's futsal World Cup will be held, with the Philippines as the host. Asia is allocated 3 places to attend the World Cup, for the champions, runners-up and third-place teams in the women's futsal finals taking place next year in China. Thus, the Vietnamese women's futsal team must be in the top 3 in the continental finals to be able to win a ticket to the World Cup. This is a milestone that coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team have not yet achieved. In 2018, the Vietnamese women's futsal team finished fourth, after losing to Thailand in the bronze medal match.

Is it easy or difficult to reach the top 3 in Asia in the 2025 finals? The answer depends on the perspective. In women's futsal, the competition is less fierce than men's futsal. The Vietnamese women's futsal team is ranked 11th in the world and 4th in Asia, after Iran, Japan and Thailand. The easy part is that to win a ticket to the World Cup, the Vietnamese women's futsal team only needs to overcome 1 of these 3 opponents. But the difficult part is that all three teams are very strong. Iran has won the Asian championship twice, Japan has been runner-up twice, and Thailand has long dominated Southeast Asia with stable play and a strong force.

Expand the movement

The team that just won the Southeast Asian championship of Vietnamese women's futsal witnessed a special case, that is "veteran" Tran Thi Thuy Trang. The player born in 1988 played futsal from 2011 - 2013, with Vietnamese women's futsal winning 2 SEA Games silver medals (2011, 2023). After that, Thuy Trang stepped onto the 11-player field, had 9 years of resounding success with the Vietnamese women's team, then returned to contribute to futsal.

The path from the 11-a-side to the futsal field of Vietnamese women's football is not only marked by Thuy Trang's footprints. Female player Bui Thi Trang of Hanoi also played for the national team in the 11-a-side, then returned to play futsal. Coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang has many female futsal players with experience playing in the 11-a-side, such as Bien Thi Hang, Tu Anh, Thu Xuan... Women's 11-a-side football has become a source of talent for women's futsal to take off.

Bui Thi Trang (red shirt) used to play for the Vietnamese women's team.

However, in the long term, the Vietnamese women's futsal team cannot only rely on resources from 11-a-side football, but must train their own talents and develop an independent movement. In this aspect, it cannot be said that Vietnamese women's futsal is doing well. 9 out of 16 players participating in the Southeast Asian tournament are playing for Thai Son Nam Ho Chi Minh City Club, the rest play for Ha Nam (2), Hanoi (2), Ho Chi Minh City (2), and Vietnam Coal and Minerals (1).

The Vietnamese women’s futsal movement is currently dependent on a few clubs, funded by very few businesses. This context of women’s futsal is similar to that of men’s futsal. Success may come soon when players from the same clubs play more cohesively when wearing the national team jersey, but if the movement is not strong, there are no more clubs or training centers to produce quality talent, the team will only develop to a certain level and then stop.

Vietnamese women's futsal needs investment from the roots of the domestic league to the top of the national team, if it wants to reach the threshold of the World Cup.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-futsal-nu-viet-nam-vuon-toi-world-cup-kho-hay-de-185241122074500384.htm