Since North and South Vietnam unified in 1976, the Vietnam national football team has represented the country.  One of the most successful teams in the Asian Football Confederation, Vietnam has won a number of regional competitions.

Football has been played in the country since the 1900’s but had not developed well due to the war. The North Vietnam team only played against other communist countries in the 1960’s. Since the millennium, the joint team has improved and climbed the world rankings.

Before the unification only South Vietnam had entered world cup qualifying, enjoying a short and ultimately unsuccessful run in the 1974 qualification process. Vietnam have since entered every competition since 1994 but have never qualified for the tournament proper.