OFFICIAL: Xuan Son claims a major individual award in Southeast Asia

Despite Nam Dinh’s semi‑final exit, Nguyen Xuan Son made a significant impact in the Shopee Cup 2025/26 by earning a joint Golden Boot. This also marks the second occasion that the naturalised forward has ended a Southeast Asian‑level tournament as the leading scorer.

The second leg of the Shopee Cup 2025/26 final ended with Buriram United beating Selangor 2‑1. The Thai side secured the title with a 3‑1 aggregate score over two legs, further affirming the dominance of Thai football in the regional arena.

Nevertheless, for Vietnamese fans, the name that stirs the most emotions remains Nguyen Xuan Son. The striker from Thép Xanh Nam Dinh finished the tournament with 7 goals, sharing the Golden Boot with Bergson da Silva of Johor Darul Ta’zim. Meanwhile, Buriram United’s Guilherme Bissoli is right behind with 6 goals.

Notably, Xuan Son achieved this feat even though Nam Dinh did not reach the final. The V‑League representative was eliminated in the semi‑finals by Selangor, but the forward born in 1997 still showed an extremely impressive scoring rate throughout the tournament.

After returning from injury, Xuan Son quickly regained his explosive form. He scored 7 goals in the Shopee Cup group stage, notably including a hat‑trick against Shan United. According to statistics, Xuan Son attempted a total of 23 shots in the tournament, with 13 on target. On average, the Nam Dinh striker scored a goal every 64 minutes he was on the pitch.

This latest accolade also allows Xuan Son to further extend his impressive collection of individual honors at the Southeast Asian level. Previously, the naturalised striker won a double of Top Scorer and Best Player at the 2024 ASEAN Cup while playing for the Vietnam national team.

In that tournament, Xuan Son scored 7 goals and added 2 assists in just 5 matches. Despite suffering a serious injury in the second leg of the final against Thailand and being carried off on a stretcher, he was still awarded thanks to his explosive performances throughout the competition.

Thus, in less than two years, Xuan Son has twice won the top‑scorer award at both club and national team levels. Besides Xuan Son, Vietnamese football in 2026 also recorded another international‑level top scorer: Nguyen Dinh Bac at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian CupThe forward born in 2004 scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists to claim the prestigious individual honor.