The Cong – Viettel Football Club (), commonly known as Thể Công or Viettel FC, is a Vietnamese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. The club is formally operated by Viettel Sports Center - an affiliation of Viettel Group - and competes in the

V.League 1 The V.League 1 (), also called LPBank V.League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF). It is contested by 14 clubs who play each ...

, the top tier of the Vietnamese football league system. Thể Công – Viettel is the modern incarnation of Thể Công, was one of the most widely supported clubs and also one of the most successful club in Vietnamese football history, having won a record 19 national league titles, including 13 North Vietnam national titles and 6

titles after Vietnam's reunification. Thể Công also reached nine consecutive titles, from 1971 to 1979. The club has also contributed many great players to the national team. Thể Công – Viettel's traditional colour is red, leading to the nickname ''Cơn lốc đỏ (Red Tornado)''. As Thể Công, they held a long-standing rivalry with Cong An Hà Nội (a club run by the Hanoi Police, not to be confused with the recently rebranded Cong An Hà Nôi), known as the "Hanoi Derby" or the "Vietnamese Clasico", from the mid-1950s to their dissolution in 2002. Nowadays, the derby is contested between The Cong – Viettel,

Hanoi FC Hanoi Football Club (), officially named CLB Hà Nội, is a professional football club based in Hanoi, Vietnam. They play their home matches at Hang Day Stadium and compete in V.League 1, the top division in the Vietnamese football league sy ...

and the new Cong An Hanoi.

History

Thể Công period

1954–1968: Formation and rising

On 23 September 1954, according to the appointment of the Director of the General Department of Politics at that time, General Nguyen Chi Thanh, ''đoàn công tác Thể dục Thể thao Quân đội'' (Thể Công) was established. Thể Công is short for ''Thể dục Thể thao Công tác Đội'' (Physical Education and Sports Team Work) and was managed by

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. The first Thể Công team include 23 people of the cadre from ''The Army Officer College No1'' and was divided into three teams: 11 football, 5 basketball and 6 volleyball players. In addition, all three teams also have a special reserve player, ''Ly Duc Kim'', who knows how to play football, both basketball and volleyball, and has the ability to be a nurse and good logistics. Kim also has the above support functions. The first main lineup of The Cong football team include: ''Lê Nhâm; Nguyễn Văn Hiếu; Phạm Ngọc Quế; Nguyễn Thiêm; Ngô Xuân Quýnh; Phạm Mạnh Soạn; Trương Vinh Thăng; Nguyễn Bá Khánh; Nguyễn Văn Bưởi'' (captain)''; Nguyễn Thông'' (player-coach)''; Vũ Tâm'' (as ''Phạm Vinh''). Beside, ''Nguyen Van Thanh'' (as '' Tí Bồ'') was joined later, was a famous player of the first Vietnamese footballers generation in the 1930s to 1950s period. More than a month later, on October 25, in the first football match held since the liberation of Hanoi capital at

Hang Day Stadium Hang or Hanging may refer to: People * Choe Hang (disambiguation), various people * Luciano Hang (born 1962/1963), Brazilian billionaire businessman * Ren Hang (disambiguation), various people *Hang (surname), Chinese surname (杭) Law * Hanging, ...

, The Cong had the first match in its history against Tran Hung Dao University team, including players from the capital's working class. The team won with a score of 1 - 0 with the only goal of the match being scored in the 30th second by the striker captain ''Nguyen Van Buoi''. In 1955, Vietnam's first football tournament was held in

Hai Phong Haiphong or Hai Phong (, ) is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of , consisting of 8 urban districts, 6 rural districts and 1 municipal city (sub-city). Two ...

with the name '' Hoà Bình League'' (precursor of

), Thể Công was participated with two teams A and B. Both teams won championships of two A and B classes. In 1956, for the first time, the ''Democratic Republic of Vietnam national football team'' was convened for international duty. At the age of 38, ''Ti Bo'' was still called to the national team along with nine other The Cong players to participate in his first tour in China. He became one of the first players of the Vietnamese team and the oldest Vietnamese national player ever. During the following years, Thể Công won the champions in 1956 and 1958. At that time, Công An Hải Phòng and Công An Hà Nội has been their main and traditional rival in Northern Vietnam football. Three clubs played are also the founding members in the highest Vietnamese system league in the mid-1950s and became the Big 3 clubs in the early Vietnam football period. In 1950s and 1960s, Công An Hải Phòng was far more successful, winning ten championships, including four consecutively from 1965 to 1968, making the club became North Vietnam's record champion. Thể Công took over the title more than six years later in 1976, when they won their tenth championship in 1970 and also their last nation league trophy. The duel between Thể Công and Công An Hải Phòng was referred to as the ''Northern Derby'', but the ''Hanoi Derby'' with Công An Hà Nội was more attention because they are always counter the ''Red Tornado'' by good defense system, who reached the champions twice in 1962 and 1964.

1969–2000: Golden decade and dominance in the league

Since the 1969s to 1979s, The Cong had always dominated in national league with 13 championships in the North Vietnam Football Championship, including nine consecutive titles from 1971 to 1979. During that time, the typical generation of Thể Công players were Nguyễn Thế Anh (Ba Đẻn),

Nguyễn Cao Cường Nguyễn Cao Cường (born 1954) is the retired Vietnamese footballer who played from 1970 to 1990 as a second striker for Thể Công and Vietnam. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the Vietnamese greatest-ever footballer in all-ti ...

Quản Trọng Hùng Quản Trọng Hùng (born 1956) is a Vietnamese football manager and former footballer who last managed Viettel. Career Ngô spent his entire playing career with Vietnamese side Viettel and played for the Vietnam national football team Th ...

Vương Tiến Dũng Vương Tiến Dũng (born 1949) is a Vietnamese people, Vietnamese former footballer and Coach (sport), manager. After retiring from his playing career, during which he played for Viettel FC, Thể Công (also known as the Army club) and the Nor ...

Nguyễn Trọng Giáp Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

Vũ Mạnh Hải Vũ ( 武) or Võ is a common Vietnamese surname that, through genealogy records, has been present in Vietnam since the 9th century. The Vũ surname originates from general Wǔ Hún (武浑) of the Tang Dynasty in Imperial China who was appointed ...

,... with the majority being young players who went to long-term training in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

in 1967 and when they returned home, they were the most outstanding and typical players in the country. After the country was unified and introduced had the new

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

(the predecessor of the

), Thể Công remained one of the strongest football club in Vietnam, winning 5 national titles during the 1980s and 1990s. Thể Công players have always been the core of the national team and contributed many players in the golden generation of Vietnamese football such as goalkeeper Trần Tiến Anh, Đỗ Mạnh Dũng, Nguyễn Mạnh Cường, and

Nguyễn Hồng Sơn Nguyễn Hồng Sơn (born Nguyễn Sỹ Sơn, 9 October 1970) is a Vietnamese former football player, who played for the Thể Công football club and the Vietnam national football team as an outside right and second striker. He is widely reg ...

Trương Việt Hoàng Trương Việt Hoàng (born 9 December 1975) is a Vietnamese football manager and former football player, he is the assistant coach of the Vietnam national football team and the head coach of SHB Da Nang Football Club. During his playing days ...

Nguyễn Đức Thắng Nguyễn Đức Thắng was a Lieutenant general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Military career During the early 1960s, Thắng served as the commanding officer of the ARVN 5th Infantry Division. On 20 Decemb ...

, Phạm Như Thuần, Triệu Quang Hà,

Đặng Phương Nam Đặng Phương Nam is a Vietnamese pundit and former player. He has been a member of the Vietnam national football team from 1996 to 2007. He is noted for his performances at the 1996, 2000, 2002, and 2006 Tiger Cup. Honours *Vietnamese Supe ...

, Vũ Công Tuyền... Thể Công was one of the longest standing teams in the V.League until the team was relegated in 2004. . At that times, Công An Hà Nội was still a main rivals have been the clubs who put up the strongest fight against its national dominance. Matches with CAHN was more than a local derby with many classic wins, draws and losses.

2004–2008: Relegation and promoted back

In 2004, exactly 50 years after its foundation, Thể Công football club finished V-League at 11th place (out of 12) and was relegated to the lower division. The team performed poorly partly due to the policy of not recruiting foreign soldiers, in contrast to all other teams at that time. In the following season, the club changed its name to The Cong Viettel (

Viettel The Military Industry and Telecoms Group (), Trade name, trading as Viettel or Viettel Group (), is a Vietnamese State-owned enterprise, state-owned multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications, technology and manufacturing C ...

is the Army Electronics and Telecommunication Corporation) and is partially managed by this unit. However, many comments suggested that the club should return to its old name. On January 19, 2007, the club finally gained the right to be promoted back to V-League after winning over Tay Ninh 5–3. Immediately thereafter, the official team name was reversed back to Thể Công.

2009–2010: The end and transfer

On September 22, 2009 (before the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Thể Công) the Ministry of Defense decided to change Thể Công to Viettel. In November 2009, the

decided to remove name "Thể Công" out of football in Vietnam, and transfer all management of football club from the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army to

. On September 23, 2011, on the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the establishment of the club, hundreds of officials, players, and fans of all generations who were once members of The Cong decided to launch a "campaign" to collect 1 million signatures across the country to petition the Ministry of Defense to regain the title ''Thể Công''. However, Viettel Telecom Corporation is not very interested in this reception. Facing the risk of being dissolved, the acting director of the Center at that time, ''Nguyen Thanh Hai'', asked the leaders of ''Viettel Telecom Corporation'' to allow the maintenance of the ''Viettel Football Center'' and pledged to bring results in a year. In the 2010 football season, the center's teams reached the final round of the youth tournaments. In 2011, the Center won 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze Medal in youth tournaments, officially gaining the right to exist. In the 2012 football season, the official squad of Viettel Football Center won the championship with the same rank at the Vietnam Third Division Football Championship and won a place in the Second Division since the 2013 season.

Viettel period

2010–2018: Promotion

Next to 2010 season, the club again switched its name back to Viettel FC, and also voluntarily left the professional football set-up. Instead, the club decided to focus on youth development, and start competing again in the amateur 4th tier of Vietnamese football. On October 26, 2014, the ''General Director of Military Telecommunications Group'' signed the decision ''No. 2294/QD-VTQ-TCNL'' to consolidate the functions and tasks and change the name of ''Viettel Football Training Center'' to ''Viettel Sports Center''. In 2016, the club finally returned to professional football after winning promotion to the V.League 2. In 2018, Viettel won the

V.League 2 The Vietnamese National Football First League (), known simply as the V.League 2 and for sponsorship purposes as Gold Star V.League 2, is the second-highest of the Vietnamese football league system after V.League 1, and is currently contested ...

and made their comeback to the national top tier

. The football club also wanted to switch back to the formerly name Thể Công when the tournament started from 2019, but was not agreed yet from the

, who owned brands name "Thể Công" and were used by their volleyball team – "Câu lạc bộ bóng chuyền Thể Công" (Thể Công Volleyball Club). Therefore, the official name of the football club is Câu lạc bộ Bóng đá Viettel (Viettel Football Club) and owned by Viettel Group.

2019–present: Revival

In the 2020 season, in their second season at the

after their promotion, Viettel had a title race in the league with same city rival

. Despite being placed behind Hanoi FC during the first part of the season, Viettel came back in the second half of the season and climbed to the first place after the 15th matchday. They ended up securing their first place and won the championship after beating

Saigon FC Saigon Football Club () was a Vietnamese professional association football club administered by Saigon Football Development Joint Stock Company. Following the relegation from 2022 season and problems related to the club's ownership, it was propos ...

1–0 with Bruno Cantanhede's only goal in the last matchday that took place in November 2020. However, in the

2020 Vietnamese Cup The 2020 Vietnamese National Cup (known as the Bamboo Airways National Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 28th edition of the Vietnamese National Cup, the football knockout tournament of Vietnam organized by the Vietnam Football Federation. F ...

, the club finished as runner-up after losing 1–2 against

in the final. It took them only two seasons in

to be crowned as champions after they were promoted from the 2019 season. If including the achievements of the former ''Thể Công'', this was the 9th time that they have won the national league after the reunification of Vietnam. It is also the 19th national title of the club. The title also qualified the club for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Continental record

Season-by-season record ( V-League)

Honours

National competitions

;League * A1 National League/

: Winners (6; record): 1981–82, 1982–83,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

: Runners-up : (4)

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

: Third place : (4) 1993–94,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, 2000–01,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

: : Winners : (2) 2007,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: Runners-up : (1)

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Second League: : Winners :

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: Runners-up :

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

* Third League : Winners : 2008 ;Cup *

Vietnamese Cup Vietnamese National Football Cup (), commonly recognized and branded as the National Cup (), is a Vietnamese football competition. It is one of the most important club competitions in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Cup was first held in 1992. Cảng S ...

: : Runners-up : (5) 1992, 2004,

. : Third place: 2023-24 *

Vietnamese Super Cup Vietnamese National Football Super Cup (), also called the Thaco National Football Super Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is Vietnamese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous V.League 1 season and the holders of th ...

: : Winners : (1) 1999. : Runners-up : (1) 2020

Other competitions

* North Vietnam Football Championship: : Winners (13; record): 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 * Festival Sport Vietnam : Winners : 2002 * Army ASEAN (1) : Winners : 2004 : Runners-up : 1999 * SKDA : Third place : (1) 1989

Players

First-team squad

Reserves and academy

Out on loan

Famous players

* Ba Đẻn * Bùi Tiến Dũng *

Đinh Thế Nam Đinh Thế Nam (born 30 April 1965) is a Vietnamese football manager and former footballer who currently is the head director of the Hanoi FC youth academy. Early life He is a native of Haiphong, Vietnam. Career He mainly operated as a midfie ...

* Đỗ Mạnh Dũng * Đỗ Văn Phúc * Khuất Văn Khang * Lê Phước Tứ * Ngô Xuân Quýnh * Nhâm Mạnh Dũng *

* Nguyễn Đức Chiến *

Nguyễn Hoàng Đức Nguyễn Hoàng Đức (born 11 January 1998) is a Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for V.League 1 club Phù Đổng Ninh Bình and the Vietnam national team. Early career Hoàng Đức started playing ...

* Nguyễn Huy Hùng * Nguyễn Mạnh Cường * Nguyễn Mạnh Dũng * Nguyễn Thanh Bình *

* Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng * Nguyễn Văn Quyết * Phạm Như Thuần * Phan Tuấn Tài * Phan Văn Mỵ * Quế Ngọc Hải *

* Thạch Bảo Khanh * Tí Bồ * Trần Nguyên Mạnh * Trần Văn Khánh *

Trần Văn Thành Trần (陳) or Tran is the second most common Vietnamese surname after Nguyen. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and successfully repelled the Mongol ...

* Triệu Quang Hà * Trương Tiến Anh *

* Vũ Công Tuyền *

Vũ Như Thành Vũ Như Thành (born 28 August 1981) Vietnamese football coach and former professional player who is currently the head coach of V.League 2 club Phú Thọ. He was a member of the Vietnam team that won the 2008 AFF Championship. Coaching ca ...

Coaching staff

Coaches

(2001–?) * Branko Radović (?–7/11/2003) * Phan Văn Mỵ (7/11/2003-?) * Tomas Viczko (10/2006-?) * Nguyễn Mạnh Cường (3/2005–1/2006) * Gyorgy Galhidi (31/7/2007–1/9/2008) *

(16/9/2008–2009) *

Lê Thụy Hải Lê Thụy Hải (1 January 1946 – 7 May 2021) was a Vietnamese association football, football player and manager. Playing career Lê Thụy Hải played for Tong Cuc Duong Sat, Tổng Cục Đường Sắt between 1965 and 1980, and also play ...

(1/2009–5/2009) *

(2016) * Nguyễn Hải Biên (2017–1/2019) *

Lee Heung-sil Lee Heung-sil (; born 10 July 1961) is a former South Korean footballer. He was a participant in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Club career Lee was one of the greatest K League midfielders early in the history of K League. He received various sea ...

(1/2019-6/2019) * Nguyễn Hải Biên (6/2019–1/2020) *

(1/2020–6/2022) * Hans-Jürgen Gede (6/2021) (2021 AFC Champions League only)Gede served as head coach of Viettel FC during the

2021 AFC Champions League The 2021 AFC Champions League was the 40th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 19th under the current AFC Champions League title. Al-Hilal won their fourth title by ...

, where it is required that the head coach of a club to have a "Pro" license. Trương Việt Hoàng, the club's regular head coach has no such credentials by the time of the competition. * Bae Ji-won (6/2022–12/2022) * Thạch Bảo Khanh (12/2022–12/2023) *

Thomas Dooley Thomas Dooley (born May 12, 1961) is a former association football, soccer player and coach. He played as a Defender (association football), defender and defensive midfielder and was a long-time member and former captain of the United States me ...

(12/2023–1/2024) (caretaker) *

(1/2024–4/2025) *

Velizar Popov Velizar Emilov Popov (; born 7 February 1976) is a Bulgarian former professional player and manager. Popov played for Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Hebar Pazardzhik and Spartak Plovdiv. Popov has managed 11 different teams in 8 different countries, in ...

(4/2025–present)

References

External links

Old forum about The Cong

The Cong 2009 squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cong The Cong-Viettel FC Viettel Football Club Football clubs in Hanoi Association football clubs established in 1954 1954 establishments in Vietnam Military association football clubs in Vietnam