Vietnamese women's football team gathers for 2027 FIFA World Cup bid

It marks the start of their preparations to secure a spot at the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The Vietnamese national women's football team gathered for a training session on Sunday under the leadership of head coach Mai Đức Chung.

This marks the start of their preparations to secure a spot at the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The training camp will be held in two phases, with the first stage taking place in Hà Nội from August 18 to September 1 at the Việt Nam Youth Football Training Centre. The team will then travel to the Czech Republic for further training from September 1 to 15.

The squad include the return of Nguyễn Thị Vạn, who has recovered from injury. Several young players from the U20 age group have also been called up, including Nguyễn Thị Kim Yên and Nguyễn Thị Thùy Linh from HCM City Lưu Như Quỳnh of Thái Nguyên and Tạ Thị Thủy of Hà Nam.

Striker Huỳnh Như, who recently completed a two-year stint playing for Lank FC in Portugal, has also joined the training camp.

Như, the captain of the Vietnamese women's team, is a seven-time national champion and five-time Vietnamese Women's Golden Ball award winner. She is the first Vietnamese female player to compete in Europe.

Như’s contract with Lank FC expires after the 2023 - 2024 Portuguese women's championship ends. The striker, born in 1991, returned to Việt Nam in June this year and received much attention from domestic football teams. After a period of negotiation, Như decided to return to play for HCM City 1. In case Như continues to play abroad, HCM City 1 say they will support her.

The training sessions are seen as the first step towards the Vietnamese women's team's ambition to secure a spot at the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.

In the latest FIFA women's football rankings, Việt Nam maintain their 37th place in the world, sixth in Asia and top in Southeast Asia. The Philippines are ranked 39th, while Thailand have dropped to 47th.