Coach Kim Sang-sik achieves an impressive streak of success with Vietnamese football

Since taking charge of the Vietnamese national teams, Coach Kim Sang-sik has made a remarkable impact with a series of outstanding achievements at both the senior and youth levels.

The targets set by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) for Coach Kim Sang-sik include: reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 AFF Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 SEA Games, and qualifying for the final tournament of the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup. In reality, all these goals have been fully accomplished. More notably, beyond merely “meeting targets,” Coach Kim Sang-sik has led the Vietnamese teams to advance further with a series of proud titles.

On the regional stage, the biggest highlight was the 2024 ASEAN Cup championship, when the U23 Vietnam team was crowned on January 5, 2025, reaffirming their strength and resilience in Southeast Asia’s most important competition. Shortly after, U23 Vietnam continued their success by winning the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian Championship on July 29, 2025, before concluding the year with a dramatic gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games on December 18, 2025.

In the final of the 33rd SEA Games, U22 Vietnam faced a major disadvantage, trailing Thailand 2-0 in the first half. However, Coach Kim Sang-sik’s tactical adjustments, game reading, and timely personnel changes sparked a strong turnaround. Dinh Bac scored on a penalty to narrow the gap, followed by an equalizer at 2-2 caused by pressure that led the opposing goalkeeper to an own goal. In extra time, Thanh Nhan became the hero with a decisive rebound shot, sealing a 3-2 victory on the opponent’s home ground and securing the championship for U22 Vietnam.

Not only conquering the region, Coach Kim also helped Vietnam’s youth football make solid progress on the continental stage. In the qualifiers for the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup, U23 Vietnam won all three matches to secure a spot in the final tournament as planned. At the competition held in Saudi Arabia, the team continued their emotional journey by winning all three group matches, then defeating U23 UAE 3-2 in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals for the second time in history.

However, this perfect run ended after the semi-final match against U23 China, where U23 Vietnam lost 0-3. This was also Coach Kim Sang-sik’s first defeat while directly managing the U22/U23 Vietnamese teams in official tournaments, causing the winning streak to stop at 15 matches. Nevertheless, overall, what Coach Kim has achieved remains an impressive record: not only “meeting targets” but also bringing home trophies, while elevating the image of Vietnamese football in Southeast Asia.

Now, U23 Vietnam will focus on the third-place playoff, with the most important task for Coach Kim Sang-sik being to help his players quickly recover their spirit and finish the tournament with dignity. Although the winning streak has ended, Coach Kim’s overall achievements clearly show one thing: Vietnamese football under his leadership is on the right track, with identity, titles, and the ability to surpass limits.