VFF terminates contract with coach Philippe Troussier

Immediately after the return match between the Vietnam national team and the Indonesia national team, in the second qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Asia (evening of March 26, 2024), VFF and coach Philippe Troussier met to discuss the working process as head coach of the Vietnam national team and the Vietnam U23 team. At the meeting, VFF and Mr. Philippe Troussier agreed to terminate the contract from March 26, 2024.



Coach Philippe Troussier thanked the players, clubs, VFF and fans for their support. Coach Philippe Troussier also apologized to Vietnamese fans because the team's performance did not meet expectations.

For its part, VFF acknowledges Mr. Philipe Troussier’s efforts and contributions in the recent past, when he always worked with a high sense of responsibility and professionalism. VFF wishes him and his family good health and happiness.

VFF also apologized to domestic football fans because the achievements of the Vietnamese team in the past have not met the set goals, and at the same time hoped that fans will continue to place their trust and support in Vietnamese football in general and the national football teams in particular.

In February 2023, he was selected by the VFF to become the head coach of the Vietnam national team. Coach Philippe Troussier once said: "When I received the offer from the VFF, I immediately responded very positively. Becoming a partner of Vietnamese football and the VFF is an honor and responsibility for me.

One of the reasons I accepted this position was because I had experience working in Vietnam and it helped me connect with football people here. Another reason was that in the past, I had taken on a similar role, leading the Japanese U.19 team to the U23 Asian qualifiers in Thailand, then the World Cup Finals. That gave me the confidence to take on this task.''

Mr. Troussier started with the Vietnam team with 3 wins against Hong Kong, Syria and Palestine. The Vietnam team scored 4 goals and did not concede any.

However, coach Troussier's "honeymoon" quickly ended. In the next 10 matches, coach Troussier's Vietnam team suffered 9 losses. The only victory of the "golden star warriors" during this period was against the Philippines (2-0).

In the 9 defeats mentioned above, the Vietnamese team lost heavily to South Korea 0-6. Not only that, coach Troussier and his team also suffered defeats against the favorite opponents of the Vietnamese team under coach Park Hang Seo, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan.

When Mr. Troussier took over as head coach of the national team, the Vietnamese team was ranked 94th in the world. However, after only 13 matches in charge, the Vietnamese team dropped to 107th in the world. The lowest ranking in many years./.