Lessons from the 2026 World Cup: Vietnam Women's Team and the Journey Back to Their Rhythm

Lessons from the 2026 World Cup: Vietnam Women's Team and the Journey Back to Their Rhythm In stoppage time of Vietnam's match against Portugal at the 2026 Women's World Cup, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha received the ball in a narrow angle on the left wing. She did not pass backward, she did not waste time; she chose a curling shot toward the far corner of the goal. The ball flew over the crossbar, and the sound of disappointment swept through thousands of Vietnamese supporters at Eden Park. That moment did not change the score, but it showed a generation of young players who still dare to try, who still dare to imagine a different future for Vietnamese women's football. At the World Cup stands, I learned how to listen to the sound of applause for belief. When the match ended, Vietnam left the pitch with three straight defeats, but what remained was not just the score. It was the first time Vietnamese women's football had touched the biggest stage on earth, and it was also the first time the players had to confront the question: after the dream, what do we build? Before reaching the World Cup, Vietnam had passed through important milestones. In 2026, they defeated Thailand in the SEA Games final to win the gold medal. Huynh Nhu, Chuong Thi Kieu and Tran Thi Thuy Trang were the pillars who carried the team through the Asian qualifiers. But the journey in New Zealand revealed that the gap between the national team and the world's elite remained huge. The losses to the United States 0-3, the Netherlands 0-7 and Portugal 0-2 did not come from individual errors alone; they came from the gap in fitness, processing speed and squad depth. After the tournament, serious questions about the long-term plan finally started to be asked. Following Vietnam's matches since 2026, I have noticed one key thing: the biggest weakness was not in mentality, but in how the team operated without the ball. For years, Vietnam sat deep, waited for opponents to make mistakes and relied on counter-attacks through Huynh Nhu or Tuyet Dung. That style produced good regional results, but against teams with far superior ball possession, the defensive system became stretched and the players were constantly chasing the game. Statistics from the World Cup showed Vietnam's average possession rate was only around 28 percent, the lowest among all participating nations. The tactics of Vietnam women's national team are no longer a dry drawing; they are a whisper passed through every pass. That image appears clearly in recent training sessions under head coach Mai Duc Chung. Instead of asking his players to defend passively, he has started building a more active system: higher pressing, coordinated movement and quick ball circulation after regaining possession. This is not a revolution, but a necessary adjustment to catch up with modern trends in women's football. The clearest change lies in how the team uses young players. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha, born in 2026, is no longer fixed on the wing. She has been given freedom to move between the lines, drop deep to receive the ball and create space for teammates. In tactical training sessions, Thanh Nha is often the player with the most touches — not because she is privileged, but because the new system requires forwards to participate in building play from the back. This style reduces pressure on the midfield and creates extra escape routes against pressing. Numbers from post-World Cup friendlies suggest meaningful progress. Vietnam's possession rate against regional opponents has risen to around 55 percent, higher than the previous average of 40 percent. The number of accurate passes per game also improved, from roughly 280 to more than 400. More importantly, most of the team's goals in 2026 came from short combinations instead of set pieces or pure counter-attacks. That suggests the players are gradually becoming comfortable with short passing, constant movement and trust in the system rather than depending only on individual skill. The empty stadiums during the pandemic taught me that football is never short of spectators; it is only short of noise. Through 2026 and 2026, domestic tournaments were suspended, and the income of female players dropped severely. Many players had to take extra jobs just to make ends meet. When football returned, the question of sustainability in the youth system became even more urgent. Without a strong national championship and without regular youth academies, the tactical efforts of the national team will remain only temporary solutions. The Vietnamese national women's league currently includes only seven or eight clubs, with a short schedule and limited sponsorship. Clubs such as Ho Chi Minh City I or Hanoi I remain the strongest, but the gap between them and the rest is growing. Meanwhile, countries like Japan, South Korea and Australia have built professional league systems with many tiers, giving young players regular competitive matches. The gap between Vietnam and Asia's leading football nations is not only about player quality; it is about league structure and long-term investment. The encouraging sign is that the youth transition is taking place rather actively. At the 32nd SEA Games, many players under the age of 23 were given opportunities, marking a generational shift after the era of Huynh Nhu and Tuyet Dung. Names such as Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha, Ngan Thi Van Su and Tran Thi Duyen are no longer unknown quantities. They are allowed to play, to make mistakes and to learn how to adapt to higher intensity. This is something the older generation did not have during the early stages of their careers. The story of Vietnamese women's football is not just about the national team. It reflects a broader reality about how society views women in sport. When a female player achieves results, she is celebrated. But when she steps off the pitch, everyday life remains difficult. Salaries for many female players in Vietnam are still only enough to survive, while training schedules consume nearly all of their time. Without post-retirement career support, it is very hard to keep young talents in football. In this context, the success at the 32nd SEA Games and the ticket to the 2026 World Cup were huge morale boosts, but the important thing is how we use those successes as leverage to change the structure. If decision-makers only reward achievements without improving training conditions, without upgrading youth competitions and without creating a development roadmap for female players, the cycle of success will be difficult to repeat. From those World Cup matches, I realized that Vietnamese women's football does not lack talent, nor does it lack desire. What is missing is an ecosystem large enough to nurture that talent. When a national team can only gather its full squad a few months before a big tournament, and when young players lack regular competition, the gap with the world will continue to widen. Vietnam's women's clubs are standing between two worlds: one is the memory of glory, the other is the demand of modern football. They deserve to be treated as true professional athletes, not only on the training pitch but also in tournament organization, media coverage and financial investment. When I watch Thanh Nha sprinting down the right wing in the match against the Netherlands, I do not see a weak player. I see a young woman learning how to survive at the highest level. That will requires matches of quality, proper nutrition, international training camps and respect from her own football community. Looking at Vietnam women's team today, I do not ask whether they can beat a leading Asian side. I ask a bigger question: are we patient enough to build a long-term path for them? The road from the 2026 World Cup to the Women's Asian Cup qualifiers in 2026 is only one step. The team needs to accumulate experience, maintain stability and, above all, solve the succession problem. Women's football around the world is moving very quickly. While Vietnam struggles with budgets and mechanisms, other football nations have already invested in youth academies, sports science and full professionalization. If we fail to keep up with this speed, we may wait a very long time before another golden generation appears. Vietnamese football fields are witnessing a new generation of female players with burning ambition. They do not want to be remembered only as pioneers. They want to win. They want to prove that women's football deserves serious investment. And they want the children watching them today to have a better future. In that journey, tactics are only part of the story. The most important thing remains the belief of the whole community in the value of women's football. On the World Cup stands, I saw that belief in the eyes of Vietnamese fans. It is still burning quietly at Thong Nhat Stadium, in youth training centers and in every practice session of the national team. The only remaining question is whether we know how to turn that belief into lasting victories.