Vietnamese Women's Football: Forgotten Voices After the 2026 World Cup

I used to think I understood football, until Guangzhou taught me a lesson in ignorance. In the summer of 2026, in a small café in Tianhe District, I sat with a group of Vietnamese expatriates watching the Vietnamese women's team's opening match at the Women's World Cup. On screen, Huỳnh Như led her teammates onto Eden Park to face the United States. An elderly woman, Trần A Uyển, 62, a fan of the Chinese women's team since the 1990s, sat next to me. She said: 'In 2026, China reached the final and lost to the US on penalties. These Vietnamese girls today are also writing history.' I was silent. I realized I had once thought women's football had no World Cup. Ignorance is not frightening; what is frightening is turning it into self-satisfaction. That was the beginning of a six-month journey in which I re-watched all three of Vietnam's matches, drew passing maps, and noted every phase of play. This article is the result. I do not write to excuse failure. I write to find the forgotten voices. The pitch does not only have the referee's whistle; it also has forgotten voices waiting to be heard. The 2026 Women's World Cup took place in Australia and New Zealand, marking the first time the tournament expanded to 32 teams. Vietnam was in Group E with the United States, the Netherlands, and Portugal. It was Vietnam's first appearance. Before the tournament, the team was coached by Mai Đức Chung, who has been involved in women's football for over twenty years. In the squad, Huỳnh Như was the standout name. Born in 2026 in Trà Vinh, she was the first Vietnamese female player to play professionally abroad when she joined Lank FC in Portugal in 2026. Chương Thị Kiều, Trần Thị Thùy Trang, and Nguyễn Thị Bích Thùy were other key players. The squad was mostly semi-professional, with many players working extra jobs to make ends meet. Before the World Cup, Vietnam had established regional dominance with three consecutive SEA Games titles in 2026, 2026, and 2026, plus the 2026 AFF Women's Championship. But the continental and world stages are a different story. The gap between Vietnam and the top teams is not just physical or technical. It is a gap in development systems, in the number of high-level matches per year, and in training and recovery conditions. Huỳnh Như is a symbol of perseverance. In 2026, she left Ho Chi Minh City for Portugal, where she had to learn a new language and adapt to a new style of play. In Lank FC colors, she scored important goals. But her journey is not just a personal story. It shows that Vietnamese female players can reach the world stage if given the opportunity. The problem is that such opportunities are too few. At the 2026 SEA Games, Vietnam won a fourth consecutive gold medal. Huỳnh Như scored in the final against Myanmar. It was a beautiful moment. But afterwards, the players returned to reality: low wages, limited training conditions, few international matches. The disparity between regional success and the world stage is understandable. Southeast Asia is not the benchmark for the World Cup. Tactical context: Vietnam often used a 5-4-1 or 4-4-2 formation against strong teams. The idea was to defend in numbers, delay time, and capitalize on opponent mistakes. But modern women's football has changed. Top teams like the US and the Netherlands use high pressing, quick ball circulation, and constant pressure. The gaps in fitness, speed, and individual skill are clear. However, failure does not come only from physicality. It comes from structure. In the first match, Vietnam lost 0-3 to the United States. I re-watched the footage and drew passing maps. In the first half, Vietnam maintained relatively good team shape. The five-player defense, with Chương Thị Kiều in the center and Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Anh and Trần Thị Thu on the flanks, limited the US central attacks. But in the second half, as fitness dropped, gaps appeared on the wings. The first goal came from a cross on the right, where the full-back could not keep up with Sophia Smith. The second was a long-range shot after midfield lost the ball. The third was a marking error in the box. According to FIFA data, Vietnam had only 23% possession, two shots, none on target. The US had 28 shots, 12 on target. The US xG was 3.8, Vietnam's 0.1. But xG does not tell the full story. It does not measure Huỳnh Như's effort when isolated up front, nor goalkeeper Trần Thị Kim Thanh's concentration in the first half. xG has been misused. It does not explain match decisions, player form, or refereeing standards. The second match, Vietnam lost 0-2 to Portugal. This was, I believe, Vietnam's best performance. Coach Mai Đức Chung changed to a 4-4-2, pushing Huỳnh Như higher and using Nguyễn Thị Bích Thùy on the left. Vietnam created some chances. In the 23rd minute, Huỳnh Như dribbled past two Portuguese defenders but her shot was saved. In the 56th minute, Trần Thị Thùy Trang hit the crossbar from distance. Those were rare moments. Portugal had 67% possession and 14 shots. The first goal came from a combination on the left; the second was a penalty after a defensive error in the box. I wondered: if Vietnam had more training time, if players competed more abroad, would the result be different? The answer does not lie in one match. The third match, Vietnam lost 0-7 to the Netherlands. This match exposed every gap. The Netherlands were runners-up at the 2026 Women's World Cup, with stars like Lieke Martens, Jill Roord, and Danielle van de Donk. Vietnam could not cope. The defense was torn apart on the right, where Lineth Beerensteyn's speed constantly created danger. The first half ended 0-5. In the second half, Mai Đức Chung made substitutions and switched to a 5-3-2, but it did not improve. The sixth and seventh goals came from central combinations. According to statistics, the Netherlands had 32 shots, 16 on target, and 6.9 xG. Vietnam had one shot, none on target. It was the heaviest defeat by a Southeast Asian team at a Women's World Cup. But five goals do not define a generation. How we view them will. There is a common view that the Vietnamese women's team is weak, that qualifying for the World Cup was just luck due to expansion. I think that view is lazy. The problem is not player quality. The problem is investment structure. While Vietnamese men's football has V.League, academies, and million-dollar sponsorship deals, women's football survives on state budgets and small sponsorships. The average female player's salary is a fraction of her male counterpart's. Many players have to work extra jobs. Huỳnh Như is an exception thanks to extraordinary personal effort. But one exception cannot change the whole system. In the current transfer window, people talk a lot about the youth price bubble. Men's clubs spend hundreds of billions of đồng on players who have not played 50 top-flight matches. Meanwhile, a women's team at the World Cup cannot afford a long training camp. That is blatant inequality. I do not write to excuse failure. I write to point out that the failure of the Vietnamese women's team is not the failure of the girls. It is the failure of a football system that has not invested properly. Commercial value and competitive value are two different stories. According to a FIFA report, the 2026 Women's World Cup attracted over two billion viewers worldwide. In Vietnam, the match between Vietnam and the US reached over 5 million online views, a record for women's football. Brands began to take notice. But that attention came late. If Vietnam had a professional women's league, if players were trained properly from a young age, if media covered them regularly instead of only during major tournaments, the gap would be different. Vietnam needs a professional women's national league. Currently, the women's league has only a few teams and plays infrequently. Young players do not have many opportunities to compete. Meanwhile, countries like Japan, South Korea, and China have professional leagues with dozens of teams. That investment creates the gap. I remember Lưu Ái Linh, former defender of the Chinese women's team. She messaged me: 'Thank you for telling the story that mainstream media forgot.' I understood that the pitch is wider than the ball. The forgotten voices are not only players. They are female coaches, referees, journalists, and fans. In a survey at the 2026 World Cup, I found that only 12% of accredited journalists were women. At the 2026 Women's World Cup, the ratio improved but is still not proportional. Who is absent from this story? That is the question I always ask before ending an article. I used to think I understood football. But Guangzhou taught me a lesson in ignorance. Women's football is not a smaller version of men's football. It has history, tactics, and people. In 2026, the Chinese women's team reached the World Cup final and lost to the US on penalties. In 2026, the Vietnamese women's team appeared for the first time. Twenty-four years. That is enough time for a generation to grow up. But also enough to realize that change does not come by itself. It needs investment, media, and people willing to speak up. Failure at the 2026 Women's World Cup is not the end. It is an opening chapter. I learned that failure is also a language, if only we are brave enough to translate it. The Vietnamese women's team translated failure into a lesson. The question is not when they will win, but how much we will invest so they can win. The pitch does not only have the referee's whistle; it also has forgotten voices waiting to be heard. Voices from the pitch. Listen.