OFFICIAL: Vietnam National Team Will Not Play in June FIFA Days

As per the competition calendar released by VPF, it is confirmed that the Vietnam National Team will not convene or compete in the June 2026 FIFA Days window (June 1-9), due to the need to prioritize finishing the national championship.

Specifically, the final two rounds of the V.League 2025/26 will take place on May 31st and June 7th, 2026. Notably, instead of the familiar 5:00 PM time slot used in previous years, VPF has adjusted it to 6:00 PM. The 2025/26 National Cup final is also scheduled to be held before June 15th. This results in a time frame that is almost insufficient for the Vietnam national team to gather during the June FIFA Days without affecting the tournament's progress.

The acceleration of the V.League 2025/26 schedule also aims to avoid a clash with the 2026 World Cup, which kicks off on June 11th, 2026 at the Azteca Stadium (Mexico) and runs until July 19th, 2026. This is the first World Cup to feature 48 teams, hosted across 16 cities in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. Consequently, the domestic season is forced to conclude about two weeks earlier than usual.

If time were allocated for the Vietnam national team to assemble during this period, the domestic league would have to be postponed by at least one week, which is hardly feasible as the season is in its final sprint. A VPF representative shared with Tuoi Tre Newspaper: “We prioritize playing during that time to finish the V-League early, freeing up time for the Vietnam national team to focus on the 2026 ASEAN Cup at the end of July.”

In reality, Vietnamese football has previously flexibly halted domestic competitions multiple times to serve the national team or U23s during official tournaments. In the 2025-26 season, professional leagues were suspended for nearly 3 months for Vietnam U23s to participate in the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup. However, arranging schedules for international friendlies within FIFA Days windows has not always been as convenient.

This is also not the first time the Vietnam National Team has missed the opportunity to play in FIFA Days. In June 2025, the team did not have any international friendlies ahead of a crucial match against Malaysia in the final Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. By the September 2025 FIFA Days, the team also only played internal matches against domestic clubs instead of participating in official international friendlies.

Beyond the scheduling issue, Coach Kim Sang Sik also faces a personnel challenge during training camps that overlap between the Vietnam National Team and the U23s. The September 2026 FIFA Days window (September 21st to October 6th) is predicted to continue posing a dilemma for the Korean strategist, as the U23s prepare for the 20th Asian Games while the Vietnam National Team is scheduled to play international friendlies.