Sports

Viet Nam's beach rowing team made a dream debut at the 2026 Asian Rowing Beach Sprint Championships in Thailand, returning home with two golds, one silver and one bronze.

The Viet Nam Paralympic Committee, in coordination with the Bac Ninh Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and several other organisations, held the award ceremony for the Para Natuh Journalism Awards “The Voice of Inclusion” and the Para Natuh Photography Awards “Moments of Inclusion”.

Defending champions Viet Nam will begin their quest for a fourth consecutive AVC Challenge Cup title when the tournament gets underway in the Philippines from June 4 to 14, with head coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet confident his side can rise to the challenge.

In the vibrant atmosphere at Hang Day Stadium on the evening of May 31, Ha Noi Police officially lifted the V-League 2025/2026 championship trophy after an impressive season. The early championship win, along with a 2-1 victory against Becamex Ho Chi Minh City in round 25, concluded the triumphant journey of coach Mano Polking’s team.

Viet Nam will host a race of the prestigious UTMB World Series for the first time, opening opportunities to put the country’s mountain trails on the global trail running map.

Vietnamese athletes recently secured 14 gold medals, topping the 2026 World Jujitsu Contact Championships in Türkiye, thereby affirming the nation’s status and strength on the international stage. This achievement stems from a deliberate, sustainable, and professional development strategy.

The tournament is taking place from May 23 to June 9 at Tien Son sport centre and My Khe beach park. Competitions are being held in four disciplines, including freestyle, Greco-Roman, women’s wrestling and U17 beach wrestling.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) conducted the group-stage draw and match scheduling ceremony for the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup Qatar at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on May 21. According to the draw results, Viet Nam’s U17 national team has been placed in Group G alongside U17 Mali, U17 Belgium and U17 New Zealand.

With a total of 38.020 points, Viet Nam has secured 15th place in the latest Men’s Club Competitions Ranking 2025/26, announced by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on May 19.

With just over four months remaining until the opening of the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, Viet Nam’s national teams are pushing hard to meet their target of winning at least five gold medals.

Vietnamese chess grandmaster Le Quang Liem has become the first player from Viet Nam to qualify for the Esports World Cup after an impressive performance at the DreamHack Atlanta qualifiers in the US on May 18.

A 2-0 victory over Dong A Thanh Hoa at Dang Day Stadium on May 17 saw Cong An Ha Noi officially crowned champions of the 2025/2026 V-League with three rounds remaining, capping off an impressive campaign under coach Mano Polking this season.

The Sports Partnership Initiative for Community Health in Viet Nam achieved significant results, including reaching more than 1.2 million people through communications activities, supporting over 229,000 students and residents in maintaining physical activity, and increasing the proportion of students meeting physical activity standards by 22.6% at 10 schools.

An international initiative aimed at promoting the rights and protection of women and girl children through Vovinam, the traditional martial art of Viet Nam, was launched at a ceremony hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan in Tokyo on May 15.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony was held on May 14, at the Embassy of Viet Nam in the Republic of Korea (RoK) between the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Korea (VSAK) and ICFOOD on cooperation in organising the ICFOOD-VSAK Summer Football Tournament 2026.

The Grand Esports 2026, a series of esports events and tournaments, has been launched on May 14 in Ha Noi, giving players and supporters the opportunity to compete and enjoy high-level matches throughout the year.

Vietnamese athletes have been asked to win at least five gold medals at the 20th Asian Games (ASIAD), which will be held in September in Japan.

The Thai Youth Football fanpage published an article praising the Vietnamese “golden star warriors” for displaying extraordinary fighting spirit in overturning the match to defeat the UAE 3–2, thereby topping Group C for the first time and earning a place at the U17 World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The Viet Nam U17 national team made history by defeating the UAE U17 side 3-2 in their final Group C match at the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup finals in the early hours of May 14 (Viet Nam time), thereby securing a place in the quarter-finals and qualifying for the FIFA U17 World Cup for the first time.

The target of winning five gold medals at ASIAD 20 is no longer merely an aspirational statement for Vietnamese sports, it has become an official objective set out in the strategy for the development of high-performance sports through to 2030.