The draw and fixture scheduling for the 2024/25 National Championship (HNQG) Bia Sao Vàng and the 2024/25 National Cup

The 2024/25 National First Division Football Championship (HNQG Bia Sao Vàng 2024/25) and the 2024/25 National Cup are two key tournaments within the National Professional Football system. The National First Division is the second-highest level in the professional football hierarchy. Many of Vietnam’s talented young players have showcased their skills and risen to prominence in this league before becoming stars of Vietnamese football. Meanwhile, the National Cup brings together all professional teams in a knockout format, which often leads to significant surprises and adds to the excitement of the tournament. Both of these professional competitions are set to kick off in mid-October 2024, starting more than a month after the LPBank National Championship 2024/25, which begins on September 14, 2024.

• The 2024/25 National First Division Football Championship (HNQG-Bia Sao Vàng 2024/25), formerly known as the Gold Star V.League 2 2023/24, will feature 11 professional clubs: Bà Rịa Vũng Tàu, Đồng Nai, Đồng Tháp, Hòa Bình, Huế, Long An, Khánh Hòa, Phù Đổng Ninh Bình, PVF-CAND, Trẻ TP.HCM, and Trường Tươi Bình Phước. The top three teams at the end of the season will receive the following prizes:
• Champion: Trophy, Gold Medal, and a cash prize of 2 billion VND.
• Second Place: Silver Medal and a cash prize of 1 billion VND.
• Third Place: Bronze Medal and a cash prize of 500 million VND.

At the end of the 2024/25 Gold Star V.League 2 season, the league will see the promotion and relegation as 1.5 promotion spots to the next season’s National Championship (V.League 1), one team will be relegated to the Second Division.

For the 2024/25 Gold Star V.League 2, the competition will follow a home-and-away 2 round-robin format. Each team will play against every other team twice—once at home and once away—to determine the standings based on points. The season is scheduled to begin on October 25, 2024.

The 2024/25 National Cup will feature a total of 25 teams, including 14 teams from V.League 1 and 11 teams from Gold Star V.League 2. The tournament will be played in a single-elimination format, where each match is a knockout game, with a total of 25 matches to be played throughout the competition.

The National Cup is scheduled to commence on October 19, 2024. The winner of the tournament will receive a cash prize of 2 billion VND.

To enhance the quality and professionalism of the tournament, the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) will implement VAR (Video Assistant Referee) technology in some rounds and key matches of the National Cup 2024/25.

Alongside the LPBank National Championship 2024/25, the 2024/25 National First Division Football Championship (HNQG Bia Sao Vàng) and the 2024/25 National Cup will also implement a new regulation regarding player registrations. Therefore, each club participating in these competitions will be allowed to register a maximum of 2 foreign players of Vietnamese descent (Vietnamese expatriates), which is an increase of 1 player compared to the 2023/24 season. This new regulation is expected to enhance the appeal of the leagues and cup, helping to attract more Vietnamese expatriate players back to the country to play and contribute to the local football scene.

Building on the successful collaboration between Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) and strategic partner FPT Play in recent seasons, the aim is to continuously enhance the quality and visibility of national football competitions. For the 2024/25 season, all matches in the Gold Star V.League 2 2024/25 and the 2024/25 National Cup will be broadcast live by FPT Play across multiple platforms, including terrestrial, cable, satellite, IPTV, internet, and mobile, as well as on social media. Beyond merely broadcasting the matches, VPF and FPT Play will produce and deliver a variety of programs that closely follow the training and competition processes of the clubs. This will include high-quality news segments, expert analysis, commentary from professionals, and coverage by journalists. These initiatives are designed to offer a comprehensive and multi-faceted view of the competitions to the audience.

The Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) is confident that with the dedicated and timely guidance from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Department of Physical Education and Sports, the Vietnam Football Federation, and the VPF Board of Directors, coupled with the efforts of VPF and the organizing committee, the effective cooperation of sponsors, the support of media agencies and relevant organizations, and especially the collaborative, shared, and responsible contributions from the clubs, the national football season 2024/25—including the Gold Star V.League 2 2024/25 and the National Cup 2024/25—will be successfully organized.