The partnership has been built based on a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and focused on different areas to develop regional football.
Sustainable development
The MoU was signed in November 2019 to use football as a vehicle for social development and healthy lifestyles in the ASEAN region. Key programs carried out during 2023-24 delivered remarkable results.
Under the agreement, the two sides focused on developing infrastructure, enhancing governance capacity, and broadening cooperation to include gender equality and climate change response. This collaboration highlights football’s vital role in linking the region with the world.
Representatives of the Sports Authority of Viet Nam and FIFA attended a ceremony to present footballs to schools nationwide.
The standout achievement of this period was the upgrade of the Southeast Asian Football Championship (ASEAN Cup).
FIFA officially recognized the tournament, formerly known as the AFF Cup, bringing major benefits such as matches being included in the FIFA ranking system and supporting national teams in improving their global standings
During this period, FIFA boosted its investment budget for member associations by 30 per cent compared to the previous cycle, enabling ASEAN countries to carry out infrastructure upgrades.
The cooperation also centered on strengthening professional and management capacity through training programs and knowledge-sharing workshops.
Football for Schools Project
Football for Schools Project was expanded and developed across several countries in the region including Viet Nam with the goal of using football as an educational mean helping children improve their health, life skills and moral values.
The Japanese Varen Nagasaki U15 squad takes part in an exchange meeting with Viet Nam’s PVF U15 team
The initiative has so far been implemented in nine countries, engaging over 1.78 million children, with more than 82,240 footballs distributed to schools.
Multi-field cooperation
The two sides discussed and decided to expand their cooperation to new fields such as gender equality, climate changes and sustainable development.
Many seminars and webinar were held to share experts’ knowledge and experience on football management, women’s football development, anti-doping and building facilities to international standards.
Capacity enhancing
Capacity building and match-fixing prevention were promoted through a range of initiatives, including translating key documents on transparency and integrity in sports, especially football, into ASEAN languages, and organizing training sessions for officials of regional football federations, referees, supervisors, and competition managers and organizers.
In particular, a highlight of the cooperation in the 2023-2024 period was a milestone conference entitled FIFA Forward 3.0 held in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, in March 2023.
FIFA launched the program FIFA Forward 3.0 with a support cycle for football development until 2026.
The conference brought together 12 ASEAN federations and announced a budget increase of nearly 30 per cent compared to the previous cycle.
The funding supported a range of projects, including Myanmar’s first futsal court, technical centers in Brunei and the Philippines, grass field systems across 25 Cambodian provinces, and international-standard training pitches in Laos.
This investment supported not only ASEAN’s football infrastructure but also the development of its future generations of players.
Viet Nam’s role
During the 2023-2024 period, Viet Nam affirmed its role as an active, proactive and responsible member of ASEAN. The country hosted a number of important seminars such as FIFA Forward 3.0 and SOMS-15. Vietnamese officials contributed ideas at seminars and meetings on the ASEAN-FIFA’s MoU, and took part in events and that strengthened ASEAN’s ties with FIFA in the field of sports.
Delegates take part in a Gender Equality in Sports Seminar held recently by the Sports Authority of Viet Nam
Viet Nam also harvested remarkable achievements through this cooperation with the ASEAN Cup 2024 victory marking the pinnacle. The triumph delighted the whole supporters across the country and pushed the national team to higher place in the FIFA rankings. It also elevated Viet Nam’s standing in the eyes of the international football community.
At the same time, the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) used FIFA-funded resources to renovate and upgrade the dormitory at the Viet Nam Youth Football Training Center, improving living and training conditions for national teams.
Viet Nam’s international achievements were also highly valued, serving as proof of the effectiveness of FIFA’s investment and support.
Alongside other Southeast Asian nations, Viet Nam actively carried out a range of meaningful initiatives in line with the policies and goals of the MoU, achieving numerous outstanding results during 2023-2024.
These achievements provide a solid foundation for the 2024–2029 cooperation phase, aimed at making ASEAN a regional model in leveraging football as a driver of sustainable social development.
During this period, Viet Nam has actively expanded its collaboration with FIFA and ASEAN member states -- an important step toward advancing the national football development strategy through 2030, with a vision to 2045.
Typically, in 2025, a VFF delegation attended the FIFA Executive Football Summit in Miami, USA. Vietnamese football officials joined many important meetings with FIFA, AFC, UEFA leaders, discussing various issues such as youth football training, school football development, technical capacity improvement and especially women's football promotion.
Earlier, the VFF partnered with Spain’s La Liga to organize a workshop for young coaches and trainers in Ha Noi, and launched a women’s football development project for 2024-2027 with support from UEFA and AFC. The initiative aims to enhance professionalism and position women’s football as one of Viet Nam’s spearhead sports on the path toward continental and global success.
Beyond football, the ASEAN–FIFA partnership for 2024-2029 also enables Viet Nam to broaden cooperation in culture, sports, and tourism, laying a foundation for sustainable growth.
With focused efforts and clear direction, Vietnamese football is entering a new phase in which international collaboration is pivotal. Strengthening ties with FIFA, AFC, UEFA, and ASEAN not only elevates Viet Nam’s standing but also opens the door for Southeast Asian nations to move closer to the dream of a World Cup appearance.
Thanh Ha