Vietnam Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Vietnam

The Most Popular Vietnamese Sports

Find below Vietnam national sports, ranked by popularity:

So there you have them, the most popular sports of Vietnam! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Vietnam.

What is the National Sport of Vietnam?

The national sport of Vietnam is da cau (known as jianzi in China), a very spectacular sport.

Similar to sepak takraw, this sport is basically a mix between football and badminton. It is a game where players have to pass a ball over a net, and it is played on a badminton court. What is fantastic about it is that they cannot use their hands! You will often see high jumps and backflips in the streets of Hanoi.

Learn More About Vietnam Popular Sports

Vietnam is a communist country located at the eastern border of mainland Southeast Asia. For such a small country, its population is very high: there are more than 96 million Vietnamese. It is bordered by China, Laos, and Cambodia, and shares maritime borders with Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Its capital city is Hanoi, which has more than 8,053,000 inhabitants (but more than 19,795,000 if you include the metropolitan area!).

An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all Vietnam popular sports, and I hope you will love them:

Football

The most popular sport in Vietnam is, by far, football.

Like many other countries, Vietnam is a fan of football and has been since the arrival of the sport, in 1896. It was brought by the French during the colonial era, and the governing body of football, the Vietnam Football Federation, was founded later in 1960. It is now in charge of everything related to the sport, but also of futsal and beach soccer.

Despite all of this, the Vietnamese football team still has to show up on the international stage.

Famous Vietnamese Football players: Le Huynh Duc, Le Cong Vinh, Nguyen Tuan Anh, Nguyen Cong Phuong, Luong Xuan Truong, Dang Van Lam, Nguyen Quang Hai, Ha Duc Chinh, Nguyen Tien Linh, Doan Van Hau, Luong Xuan Truong, Bui Tien Dung

Volleyball

The second most popular sport in Vietnam is volleyball.

Volleyball is a rising sport overall, and it is very popular in Vietnam. The main reason for that is the little space it requires, how easy it is to set up, and how much the youth loves it. It is widely played in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities, which guarantees the future of volleyball in Vietnam.

When it comes to the competitive scene, the national volleyball team has won several silver medals at the Sea game.

Famous Vietnamese Volleyball players: Huỳnh Trung Trực, Nguyễn Xuân Thành, Giang Văn Đức, Nguyễn Thanh Hải, Phạm Thái Hưng, Đinh Văn Tú, Nguyễn Vũ Hoàng, Lê Thành Hạc

Badminton

The third most popular sport in Vietnam is badminton.

Badminton is overall one of the most popular sports in all of Asia. Similar to volleyball, it is largely loved by the youth of the country, and it is very competitive in Vietnam. Many people set up badminton nets quite early in the morning, all around the cities. They generally play in doubles, and badminton is reputed to be great for cardio.

There is a national tournament, the Vietnam Open, which has been held since 1996.

Famous Vietnamese Badminton players: Nguyen Tien Minh, Nguyen Thuy Linh, Vu Thuy Trang, Do Tuan Duc, Pham Nhu Thao, Pham Cao Cuong, Le Duc Phat

Wrestling

The fourth most popular sport in Vietnam is wrestling.

Wrestling is considered a traditional art in Vietnam, and even to this day, it attracts a lot of audiences. There is also a local tournament, the National Wrestling Championship, which often takes place in different provinces of the country, mostly during spring.

In Vietnamese wrestling, there is no ring or rope. Instead, villagers use lime to draw a square of 10 m / 32 ft on each side. Then, wrestlers rub their hands on the earth, provoking each other, before the fight actually starts.

Famous Vietnamese Wrestling players: Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Miro, Riddle, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins

Cycling

The fifth most popular sport in Vietnam is cycling.

Despite Vietnam is famous for its heavy and crazy traffic, there are lots of bikers in the country. Whether it is for recreational purposes or a more serious and competitive side, Vietnamese people overall love cycling. You will often see the countryside filled with bikers, and sometimes there is more than one person on the bike!

On top of this, almost everyone in the country has a bike, whether it is children who go to school or old women who bring back market goods.

Basketball

The sixth most popular sport in Vietnam is basketball.

Basketball is probably the sport that is growing most in Vietnam. Very similar to volleyball and badminton, it is mostly played by the youth, but it is definitely more popular in the big cities, like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Soc Trang.

As for the competitive side, Vietnam shows up more than in football, having earned a bronze medal at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, despite the national team being ranked #141 on the FIBA ranking.

Famous Vietnamese Basketball players: Bui Anh Koa, Bui Minh Buu, Bui Quoc Tan, Bui Thai Ha, Chi Anh Mladenovik, Co Tran Co Nguyen, Dang Minh Hieu, Dang Thai Hung, Dao Tuan Hung

Athletics

The seventh most popular sport in Vietnam is athletics.

Track and field disciplines are taken very seriously in Vietnam. A lot of people do it for fun, and to stay healthy, but there is definitely a competitive side to it. The two main Vietnamese athletes are Bui Thi Nhung and Vu Thi Huong. The first one won the gold medal at the 2003 Asian Athletics Championships, while the second competed at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Famous Vietnamese Athletics players: Vu Thi Huong, Nguyen Van Lai, Do Thi Thao, Bui Thi Nhung, Pham Thi Binh, Dương Thị Việt Anh, Lê Quang Khải, Lưu Văn Hùng, Trần Văn Lý, Quách Thị Lan

Futsal

The eighth most popular sport in Vietnam is futsal.

Football is so popular in Vietnam that even its variant is present on this list. It arrived in the country in the 1990s, and it is now rapidly developing.

There is a national futsal team, which at best finished 4th at the 2016 Futsal Championship. After that, it qualified for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup and even reached the round of 16. They repeated this performance in 2021. Besides, the national league, the Futsal V-League, has been running since 2007.

Famous Vietnamese Futsal players: Nguyen Van Hieu, Hồ Văn Ý, Nguyễn Minh Trí, Nguyễn Anh Duy, Lê Quốc Nam, Trần Văn Vũ, Vũ Đức Tùng, Nguyễn Thành Tín, Nhan Gia Hưng

Australian Rules football

The ninth most popular sport in Vietnam is Australian Rules football.

This sport has been played in the country since 1998, when the first team, the Saigon Saints, was formed by Australians in Vietnam. After that, their future rivals, the Hanoi Hawks, joined them. Sadly, the Saigon Saints stopped playing in 2001.

In case you don’t know what it is, Australian Rules football is relatively similar to American football. The teams are made of 18 players, and they play on an oval field.

Cricket

The tenth most popular sport in Vietnam is cricket.

While Australian Rules football often uses a modified cricket field, cricket uses… a regular cricket field!

Cricket was introduced in Vietnam in the middle of the 20th century, but it was not formalized before 1993. It was largely played by English expatriates because there used to be no official organization for cricket in the country. Now, there is the Vietnam Cricket Association, first known as the Saigon Cricket Association in 2006.

Famous Vietnamese Cricket players: Hoang DL, Hoaing Phuc, BT Duong

Rugby union

The eleventh most popular sport in Vietnam is rugby union.

Rugby union remains a minor sport in Vietnam, but it is growing nonetheless. It was brought to the country when Vietnam was part of French Indochina, mostly by French expatriates.

While it remains centered in the capital of the country, for now, it is slowly spreading to the smaller cities. As for the competitive scene, the Indochinese Cup was founded in 1999, and it features 4 Vietnamese teams: Saigon, Hanoi, Vientiane, and Phnom Penh.

Chess

The twelfth and last most popular sport in Vietnam is chess.

You might not expect chess on a list of popular sports, but it is widely appreciated in Vietnam. The country is in fact home to many fantastic players, like Cesar Boutteville or Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son.

César Boutteville was a French-Vietnamese chess master, hence his name. With a Vietnamese mother and a French father, he was born in a district of Hanoi. He won both the French Chess Championship and the Paris City Chess Championship 6 times.

Famous Vietnamese Chess players: César Boutteville, Hoang Thanh Trang, Lê Quang Liêm, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Paul Truong

So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Vietnam. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.

In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:

More Sport Facts!

Loved these Vietnam sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?

Then check out these posts:

• Famous Sports in Thailand
• Famous Sports in Sri Lanka
• Famous Sports in Malaysia

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

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