The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has selected South Korean coach Kim Sang-sik to lead the national football team, with the official announcement of the deal anticipated on Friday.

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) reached a final agreement with Kim on Thursday, appointing him as coach for both the U23 and national teams. To avoid the complexities of a long-term contract like his predecessor Philippe Troussier, Kim's contract with VFF has been structured in stages based on tournament performance. His initial year will be assessed based on results at the 2024 AFF Cup and 2025 SEA Games.

Kim Sang-sik, aged 48, previously coached Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the K-League from 2020 to 2023, achieving success with a K-League 1 title in 2021 and a Korea FA Cup win in 2022. Despite these achievements, he was dismissed in early 2023 due to a poor start to the season, winning only three out of ten games.

As a player, Kim earned 59 caps for the South Korea national team from 2000 to 2012, participating in the teams that finished third at the Asian Cup in 2000 and 2007.

Vietnamese football enjoyed significant success under former South Korean coach Park Hang-seo, who led the team from 2017 to 2023. Under Park's guidance, Vietnam achieved historic milestones including finishing as runners-up at the 2018 U23 Asian Cup, winning the 2018 AFF Cup, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Cup, and advancing to the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup.

Following Park's departure in early 2023, VFF signed a three-year contract with Troussier. However, the U23 and national teams faced a series of setbacks, including defeats to Indonesia in the 2026 World Cup qualifying rounds. This led to Vietnam terminating Troussier's contract prematurely. Currently, Vietnam is third in their group with three points after four matches, making their chances of progressing to the next round slim.