V-League 2025/26: 'A Trial by Fire'

There were no unexpected outcomes when PVF-CAND earned a full three points on SLNA's home turf in Vinh, thus claiming a place in the play-off (against Bắc Ninh, who finished second in the 2025/2026 National First Division).

At the same time, SHB Đà Nẵng defeated Thanh Hóa 4-0 to officially secure their survival as predicted, while Becamex TP.HCM, despite taking all three points against HAGL (winning 3-1) and having 24 points as well, lost to both SHB Đà Nẵng and PVF-CAND in head-to-head comparisons. Only now do insiders truly understand how important it is to "choose your opponents from the start."

The assessment that the team from the "Land of Thu" would be relegated to the 2026/2027 First Division had been made by Thể thao & Văn hóa several matchdays earlier, citing numerous unresolved issues that persisted across multiple coaching regimes. Thus, after more than 20 years, with four V-League titles, three National Cups, and a host of achievements, milestones, and records set from domestic to continental levels, the team once dubbed "Chelsea Vietnam" has bid farewell to the country's top-flight league for the first time.

At least one bright spot emerged on the final day of the 2025/2026 V-League: the goal-scoring form of young players. At Vinh Stadium, conductor Xuân Bắc made it 3-0 for PVF-CAND, only to have Lê Đình Long Vũ (20 years old) pull one back for the Nghệ An side minutes later. In Thủ Dầu Một, the names celebrated after goals were Bùi Vĩ Hào, Việt Cường, and Gia Bảo. Trần Bảo Toàn and Gia Hưng also shone in Ninh Bình's 3-0 victory over HL Hà Tĩnh...

While the current national team still belongs to the generation born 1995-97—players like Quang Hải, Hoàng Đức, Việt Anh, Duy Mạnh, along with naturalized foreigners and overseas Vietnamese—as they prepare to defend the ASEAN Cup title at the end of July and later the 2027 Asian Cup finals, the future of the team undoubtedly lies with the post-2000 generation, the cohort we often call GenZ, GenY...

The 2025/2026 professional football season in Vietnam has concluded, leaving many lingering feelings, yet without any real surprises. If the title race was decided early as contenders "surrendered without a fight," the battle against relegation was also not as tense as many had imagined.

Regarding the play-off match for the 14th V-League spot between PVF-CAND and Bắc Ninh, the outcome is hardly unpredictable. PVF-CAND has long been the undisputed king of the First Division in recent years, and their experience from one season in the V-League has surely taught them valuable lessons. Moreover, boasting numerous young talents who have worn or are wearing national team jerseys provides another guarantee against a newcomer like Bắc Ninh. Just wait and see!

Professional football is a ruthless game with harsh elimination. The fact that the U16 Vietnam team, which won the runner-up title at the expanded U16 Southeast Asian Championship in Cambodia in 2016 (losing to Australia on penalties in the final), now has only Việt Cường (Becamex TP.HCM) still holding a place in the national team speaks volumes. Therefore, the success or failure of a national youth team (U-level) in a few specific tournaments does not mean much at all.

The true measure of a football nation's ambition and capability lies in its domestic league and national team. As the saying goes, fire tests gold, adversity tests strength. The future of football is ultimately determined by today's youth.