Nguyen Cong Phuong has played for four foreign clubs in his career, the most out of any Vietnamese player. However, he did not leave an impression in all of his stints as he rarely played and did not score or assist.
In December 2015, Phuong signed a contract with Japanese club Mito Hollyhock, but a serious injury in the 2016 AFC U23 Championship finals made him miss the early stages of the season. On May 7, 2016, Phuong debuted in the 87th minute, in a 1-1 draw with Giravanz Kitakyushu in J2 League. He played four more matches in J2, with a total of 77 minutes on the field.
The 29-year-old forward returned to his childhood club Hoang Anh Gia Lai and scored 19 goals in V. League 2017 and 2018. After reaching the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Cup with Vietnam, Phuong went abroad for the second time, to Incheon United in K-League 1 in a one-year deal. However, he soon parted ways with the club after four months, playing eight matches with 352 minutes in total.
Phuong then moved to Belgian club Sint-Truidense in the 2019-2020 season, but only played 20 minutes in the 0-6 loss to Club Brugge in the Jupiter Pro League.
Phuong returned to Vietnam again to play for HCMC FC for the rest of the 2020 season, before coming back to HAGL. At the end of the 2022 season, he ended his contract with HAGL and signed a three-year deal with Yokohama FC, but did not get any playing time in J1 or J2.
In April 2023, Phuong finally made his debut for Yokohame when he played three minutes of injury time in the 2-3 loss to Nagoya Grampus in the 2023 J League Cup. In this tournament a year later, Phuong played two more games with 84 minutes, before officially leaving the team on Sept. 14. A week later, he officially joined Binh Phuoc FC, a club in the second-tier football league of Vietnam.
Another HAGL player, midfielder Luong Xuan Truong, became the first Vietnamese to play in K League 1 when he joined Incheon United for a two-year deal, but only played one season, with 251 minutes in four matches. In 2017, Truong moved to Gangwon FC, playing two matches in K League 1 and one Korean FA Cup game in a total of 152 minutes.
After playing for HAGL in the 2018 season, Truong continued to go abroad a year later, but this time his destination was Thailand's top club Buriram United. He scored one goal in six matches (258 minutes) in Thai League 1 and assisted one goal in three matches (58 minutes) in AFC Champions League.
Truong left Buriram after half a season to return to HAGL. After his contract expired in 2022, he joined Hai Phong FC. In the 2023-2024 season, he signed with another Vietnamese club, Ha Tinh.
In December 2015, HAGL midfielder Nguyen Tuan Anh moved to Yokohama FC in J2 League. He played for one season, scoring one goal in two matches in the 2016 Emperor's Cup.
Tuan Anh returned to HAGL and played there until the middle of the 2023-2024 season before moving to Nam Dinh FC until now. Many injuries, including a torn ligament in both knees, have prevented Tuan Anh's career from thriving above expectations.
On Jan. 4, 2023, winger Nguyen Van Toan joined South Korean club Seoul E-Land after eight years playing for HAGL. Toan played 388 minutes in nine K2 League matches, assisting one goal in two matches of the Korean FA Cup. He left the club in September 2023 to play for Nam Dinh until now.
Legendary striker Le Huynh Duc was the first Vietnamese player that went abroad. In 2001, he left Vietnam to join Chinese club Chongqing Lifan, scoring one goal in four matches in the domestic league. A year later, Duc returned to Vietnam to play for Dong A Bank (2002-2003) and SHB Da Nang (2004-2007) before hanging up his boots.
From 2008 to 2021, Duc was the head coach of SHB Da Nang. A year later, he became technical director of Saigon FC (dissolved) and then the head coach of Becamex Binh Duong in the 2023-2024 season.
Eight years later, striker Le Cong Vinh became the second Vietnamese footballer to go abroad, when he played for Leixoes in the Portuguese league from September to December 2009. On Oct. 4, Vinh played the entire match in the 3-2 win over Uniao de Leiria, becoming the first Vietnamese player to play in a first-tier league in Europe. After that, he played another match with 26 minutes in the league before scoring the opening goal in the 2-1 win over Casa Pia AC in Taca de Portugal.
After coming back to Vietnam, Vinh played for Hanoi FC for two more seasons before signing for Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA). In July 2013, he joined Consadole Sapporo in J2 League on a four-month loan. He scored two goals in 377 minutes of nine league matches, playing one match with 36 minutes in the Emperor's Cup. Consadole finished eighth in the league and missed out on the promotion playoff to J1 League.
Vinh continued to play for SLNA in the 2014 season, then joined Binh Duong before retiring after the 2016 AFF Cup. He currently holds the record for the domestic player with the most goals in the V. League (116 goals), the player with the most appearances (83 matches) and the most goals (51) for the Vietnam national team. In September 2024, Vinh registered for the C-license coaching class under the Asian Football Confederation and Vietnam Football Federation.
Dang Van Lam is the first Vietnamese goalkeeper to go abroad, playing for Lao club Hoang Anh Attapeu for a season in 2012 and then wandering around amateur clubs in Russia, where he was born. In 2015, Lam returned to Vietnam and signed Hai Phong FC, where his career took off.
The 2018 AFF Cup title helped Lam join Thai League club Muangthong United in January 2019. He started all 30 matches in the league, helping the team finish fifth. In the 2020 season, Lam played 12 more games before the tournament was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In January 2021, he unilaterally terminated his contract with Muangthong and was sued by the club, but FIFA ruled that neither side had to pay compensation for the contract.
The 31-year-old keeper then moved to Japan’s Cerezo Osaka, becoming the first Vietnamese player to play in J1 League. However, he could not compete for a starting position and only played two matches in the Emperor's Cup and the group stage of the 2021 AFC Champions League. In mid-2022, Lam returned to Vietnam and signed for Binh Dinh. At the beginning of this season, he moved down to the first division to play for HCMC Thanh Nien FC in a deal worth over US$1 million.
In September 2019, left-back Doan Van Hau was loaned out by Hanoi FC to Dutch club SC Heerenveen for a year. He only played one match in the KNVB Cup, when he came on in the extra minutes of the 2-0 win over Roda JC. After that, Hau stayed on the bench in 16 games of the national championship and four matches in the KNVB Cup.
At the end of the 2019-2020 season, Hau returned to Hanoi, playing only two matches before taking a long break due to a knee injury. In June 2021, he played three matches in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, then suffered a relapse and was out until July 2022. After winning the V. League and National Cup with Hanoi, Hau moved to Cong An Ha Noi (CAHN), but in August 2023 he suffered a heel injury and has not returned to play since.
The 2018 Vietnamese Golden Ball Nguyen Quang Hai went to France to join Pau FC in June 2022, under a two-year contract. However, the 27-year-old midfielder could not adapt to the environment in Ligue 2 and gradually disappeared from the first team from February 2023.
For the whole season, Hai played 268 minutes in 13 matches, with an average of 20.6 minutes per match, scoring one goal. The last time he played for the first team was the last 10 minutes of the 0-1 loss to Laval on Feb. 18 in Ligue 2. After that, he played 579 minutes in seven matches for the reserve team of Pau in the fifth division.
On June 30, 2023, Hai terminated his contract with Pau a year early and then returned to Vietnam where he joined Cong An Hanoi, his current club.
The Vietnamese player who made the biggest impression abroad was a female player. Huynh Nhu, 32, played for Portuguese club Lank FC for two seasons from 2022 to 2024. The Vietnam national captain played 3,090 minutes in 47 matches, an average of 67.17 minutes per match, scoring 10 and assisted four goals.
In the first season, Nhu and Lank finished sixth in the national championship Liga BPI. But in the second season, the owners cut investment and the team lost almost all quality players, leaving only Nhu and Gabi Goncalves as key players. In a position that was near relegation, Nhu made her mark in the last three rounds and two playoff games, with two goals and one assist, helping Lank stay in the league.
Currently, Nhu is playing for HCMC I, where she made her name as a lethal striker.
