South Vietnam national football team

Republic of Vietnam (Golden Dragon) (Saigon, French Cochinchina; 16 January 1949) (Bangkok, Thailand; 23 March 1975) (Tokyo, Japan; 1 October 1967) (Seoul, South Korea; 4 May 1971)

The Republic of Vietnam national football team (Vietnamese: Đội tuyển bóng đá quốc gia Việt Nam Cộng hòa) or the State of Vietnam national football team (Vietnamese: Đội tuyển bóng đá Quốc gia Việt Nam) was the national football team from 1949 to 1975 representing the State of Vietnam and later the Republic of Vietnam, known as "South Vietnam".

The State of Vietnam joined the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) in 1952 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954. The South Vietnamese football association was treated by these bodies as the only legitimate Vietnamese association, as the State of Vietnam and later the Republic of Vietnam claimed sovereignty over all of Vietnam from 1949 to 1975. The team started to play under the State of Vietnam in January 1949. After the State of Vietnam gained complete independence from France in June 1954 and Vietnam was divided in July, it existed side by side with a separate North Vietnam team, which represented the communist-controlled northern portion of the country from 1956 to 1975. Unlike its southern counterpart, the North Vietnamese football association was never allowed to join FIFA or the AFC. South Vietnam took part in the first two Asian Cups finals (1956 and 1960), finishing last both times. Despite the fierce wars, it was one of strongest teams in Southeast Asia.

The South Vietnam team played their last games at 1976 AFC Asian Cup qualification in March 1975, and ceased to exist after the Fall of Saigon in April, when the Vietnam War ended. The North and South regions combined into the unified Vietnam in 1975, with the Vietnam national team replacing both the North and South teams. The unified republic was allowed to keep South Vietnam's membership of FIFA and the AFC, resulting in the South Vietnam team's historical record usually being counted as part of the overall record of the Vietnam national team, while results for the North Vietnam team are not commonly included as part of the record.

Tournament record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record	Qualification record	Year	Result	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Total		—		—		–		–		–		–		–		–	3		1		0		2		1		5
BRA 1950	Not a FIFA member	Not a FIFA member
SUI 1954	Entry not accepted by FIFA	Entry not accepted by FIFA
1958 to 1970	Did not enter	Did not enter
West Germany 1974	Did not qualify	3	1	0	2	1	5

1974 FIFA World Cup qualification

The only World Cup qualification campaign which South Vietnam entered was the for the 1974 World Cup. They were placed in Zone A of the AFC and OFC qualification in Seoul, South Korea. On 16 May 1973 they beat Thailand 1–0 to qualify for Group 1. On 20 May, South Vietnam lost their opening game 0–4 to Japan and four days later they lost 1–0 to Hong Kong and were eliminated. Hong Kong and Japan advanced but neither got any further, losing play-offs for the next round to South Korea and Israel respectively.

Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup record	Qualification record	Year	Result	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Total		Fourth place		4th		6		0		1		5		8		21		–	15		7		1		7		26		25
{{flagicon	HKG	1910}} 1956	Fourth place	4th	3	0	1	2	6	9	Squad		2	1	1	0	7	3
KOR 1960	Fourth place	4th	3	0	0	3	2	12	Squad		2	2	0	0	5	1
ISR 1964	Did not qualify		3	2	0	1	9	7
IRN 1968		4	2	0	2	4	4
THA 1972	Withdrew	Withdrew
IRN 1976	Did not qualify		4	0	0	4	1	10

Asian Cup Finals Results	Year	Score	Result
1956	2–2	Draw
1–2	Loss
3–5	Loss
1960	1–5	Loss
0–2	Loss
1–5	Loss

AFC Asian Cup record	First match	Last match	Biggest win	Biggest defeat	Best result	Worst result
2–2
(9 September 1956; Causeway Bay, Hong Kong)
1–5
(14 October 1960; Seoul, South Korea)
None
1–5
(14 October 1960; Seoul, South Korea)
5–1
(19 October 1960; Seoul, South Korea)
Fourth place in 1956 and 1960
None

Olympic Games

[](football-at-the-summer-olympics) record	Qualification record	Year	Result	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Finland 1952	Did not enter	No qualification
Australia 1956	Qualified, but withdrew		2	2	0	0	9	5
Italy 1960	Did not enter	Did not enter
Japan 1964	Did not qualify		4	1	1	2	4	6
Mexico 1968		5	2	1	2	14	5
	West Germany 1972	Did not enter	Did not enter
Total	0/16	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	11	5	2	4	27	16

Asian Games

Asian Games	Year		Round		GP		W		D		L		GF		GA	Total		Fourth Place		15		5		2		8		27		27
IND 1951	Did not enter
PHI 1954	Preliminary round	2
	JPN 1958	Quarter-finals	3
	IDN 1962	Fourth place	5
	THA 1966	Preliminary round	3
	THA 1970	2	0
IRN 1974	Did not enter

Asian Games History	Year	Round	Score	Result
1954	Round 1	2–3	Loss
Round 1	3–2	Win
1958	Round 1	1–1	Draw
Round 1	6–1	Win
Quarter-finals	1–3	Loss
1962	Round 1	0–1	Loss
Round 1	6–0	Win
Round 1	3–0	Win
Semi-finals	2–3	Loss
Bronze medal	1–4	Loss
1966	Round 1	2–1	Win
Round 1	0–0	Draw
Round 1	0–5	Loss
1970	Round 1	0–2	Loss
Round 1	0–1	Loss

Southeast Asian Games

Southeast Asian Games record	Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Total	1 title	24	10	5	9	53	25
Thailand 1959	Champions	4	3	0	1	11	3
Burma 1961	Third place	3	1	1	1	8	2
Malaysia 1965	4	2	0	2	8	5
Thailand 1967	Runners-up	3	2	0	1	11	2
Burma 1969	Group stage	2	0	1	1	1	2
Malaysia 1971	Third place	4	1	2	1	5	4
Singapore 1973	Runners-up	4	1	1	2	9	7

• 1971: Pesta Sukan Cup (join-winners with India)