Opening of the FIFA Talent Identification Workshop in Ho Chi Minh City

Attending the opening ceremony were Mr. Tran Anh Tu, Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF); Ms. Nguyen Thanh Ha, Deputy General Secretary of VFF; Mr. Tran Dinh Huan, General Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation; Mr. Eric Abrams, FIFA expert; and nearly 40 participants from provinces and cities across southern Vietnam.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, VFF Vice President Tran Anh Tu noted that the presence of many renowned and experienced Vietnamese football coaches, including Hoang Anh Tuan—who guided Vietnam to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup—as well as Phan Ba Hung, Doan Minh Xuong, Luu Ngoc Mai and Doan Thi Kim Hong, highlighted the importance of the workshop. Vice President Tran Anh Tu also expressed his pleasure that, for the first time, a training course of this kind had attracted such a large number of highly experienced experts and coaches from Vietnamese football.

Mr. Tran Anh Tu noted that Vietnamese football has achieved a number of significant successes at the continental level in recent years. Notably, as many as eight Vietnamese teams qualified for AFC final tournaments in 2025. The Vietnam U17 national team secured a place at the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup through the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2026, while the Vietnam U19 team, despite not being able to assemble its strongest squad, has won its first two matches at the 2026 ASEAN U-19 Championship and needs only a draw against Indonesia U19 to advance to the semi-finals.

Mr. Tran Anh Tu emphasized that these achievements are, first and foremost, the result of effective youth development. According to the VFF Vice President, the key to sustained success lies in youth football development. Vietnam has many talented young players, and the responsibility of youth coaches is to identify and nurture those talents. For that reason, he highly valued FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme (TDS), describing it as both a practical tool and a guiding framework that helps standardize the talent identification process, reduce subjective biases, and more accurately assess the current abilities of young players.

Reflecting on the workshop previously held in Hanoi, Mr. Tran Anh Tu said that several lessons had been drawn to help improve the effectiveness of the programme in the southern region. He highlighted three key aspects: A spirit of learning and openness to new knowledge: Participants should take the lead in changing their mindset, proactively studying different development models and applying them creatively in their own environments; Responsibility toward the future of Vietnamese football: Coaches are the first and most important link in determining the quality of player recruitment. A correct selection decision today could lead to the emergence of a future star for the nation; The importance of knowledge sharing: After completing the workshop, coaches should actively disseminate and implement the knowledge and methodologies acquired through FIFA TDS within their respective organizations, helping to create a more unified and systematic approach to talent development.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, FIFA expert Eric Abrams expressed his appreciation to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) for organizing the workshop in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, making it more convenient for participants to attend. He said he was looking forward to the insights and productive discussions that would emerge during the two-and-a-half days of the workshop.

On behalf of the participants, coach Doan Minh Xuong extended his gratitude and best wishes to the organizers and instructors of the course. He noted that Vietnamese football has made significant progress in recent years, particularly in youth development. He cited the achievement of coach Hoang Anh Tuan, who guided Vietnam to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, helping to produce a talented generation of players who later brought success to the national team under the leadership of coach Park Hang-seo.

According to Doan Minh Xuong, youth football in Vietnam has received greater attention and investment in facilities and has achieved encouraging results. However, compared to leading youth development systems around the world, Vietnam still faces certain limitations. One of the key challenges is that talent identification has not yet been implemented comprehensively across the country and remains concentrated mainly in the northern region. The southern region, in particular, still lacks a sufficiently extensive scouting and identification network, which affects Vietnam’s overall ability to discover and develop young talents.

Based on this assessment, Doan Minh Xuong stressed that organizing the workshop in Ho Chi Minh City was both necessary and timely in order to strengthen youth football development in southern Vietnam. He expressed his hope that the course would provide coaches with the latest knowledge and methodologies, enabling them to apply these lessons effectively upon returning to their local clubs and academies, thereby further improving the quality of youth training and player development.

The FIFA Talent Identification Workshop is being held in Ho Chi Minh City over a three-day period. Throughout the programme, participants will take part in both classroom discussions and practical on-field sessions, allowing them to apply the concepts and methodologies presented during the workshop.