Dozens of people gathered at a café – rather than in their living rooms–to watch the World Cup Round of 32 clash between Germany and Paraguay in Ho Chi Minh City. The café would normally be closed at that hour, but its owner has extended operating hours to 24/7 throughout the tournament to accommodate football fans eager to catch the late-night matches.
“We’ve seen customer numbers increase by 50% to 70% during the World Cup,” the owner told Tuoi Tre.
Vietnam’s love for football is most visible whenever the national team takes the field. Yet every four years, another tournament captures the country’s attention on a similar scale. During the World Cup, millions of Vietnamese stay up through the night, fill cafés, and gather in public spaces to watch matches—even though Vietnam has never qualified for the tournament.
Vietnam’s decades-long of “eating and sleeping” with the World Cup
Before live television arrived, the planet’s largest football tournament reached Vietnam through newspaper reports, radio commentaries and occasional highlight reels. Football existed as words, still photographs and voices on the radio. Fans followed scores the next morning, collected newspaper clippings and relied on commentators to recreate matches.
That changed in 1982, when the World Cup in Spain became the first tournament to be broadcast live on Vietnamese television. For the first time, Vietnamese fans stayed up through the night to watch football unfold in real time. Television sets were still rare, often turning a single living room into a gathering place for an entire neighbourhood. Black-and-white screens, flickering signals and rooftop antennas became defining memories of the country’s earliest live World Cup experience.
Over the following decades, live coverage became more reliable as Vietnam Television (VTV) and Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) expanded their broadcasts. The World Cup gradually evolved from a rare television event into a four-year ritual. Families planned their evenings around kick-off times, while newspapers published fixtures, player profiles and collectable posters that were hung on café walls, office noticeboards and living-room doors.
The 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, marked another turning point. With matches played in a similar time zone, the tournament felt closer than ever to Vietnamese audiences. Cafés stayed open late, public screenings became increasingly common, and brands began embracing the World Cup as one of the country’s biggest consumer events.
By 2014, high-definition broadcasts had transformed the viewing experience, while the 2022 tournament ushered in a multi-platform era, allowing fans to watch matches on television, mobile apps and streaming services simultaneously.
Yet despite four decades of technological change, every four years, Vietnam adjusts its rhythm to the World Cup. Streets grow quieter during kick-off, cafés stay open past midnight, and millions of people gather to share football’s biggest spectacle.
More than football: Why do Vietnamese people love the World Cup?
Why World Cup is popular in Vietnam partly because football is the country’s most popular sport. Football requires little equipment, can be played almost anywhere from schoolyards to narrow alleyways, and its straightforward rules make it accessible even to casual spectators. As the World Cup brings together the world’s greatest players and national teams, it becomes an ultimate showcase of a sport generations of Vietnamese have grown up with.
Unlike domestic leagues or the UEFA Champions League, which return every season, the World Cup arrives only once every four years. The long wait gives each edition the anticipation of a festival, which many Vietnamese call it as Tết bóng đá (Tết for football).
For many, the tournament also serves as a measure of time. Vietnamese fans often say that they “count their age in World Cups,” recalling each tournament alongside milestones in their own lives—the year they graduated, started a new job, fell in love, got married, or watched the matches with their children for the first time. Every tournament carries not only memories of unforgettable goals and dramatic upsets, but also snapshots of personal lives unfolding alongside football’s biggest stage.
Perhaps that is why the World Cup resonates even with people who rarely follow football during the rest of the year. A 2022 survey found that 81% of 595 Vietnamese respondents said they were interested in or followed the FIFA World Cup, making Vietnam the second most enthusiastic World Cup audience in the Asia-Pacific region, behind only Indonesia (83%).
In Vietnam, the World Cup is no longer just a sporting event. It is a recurring cultural moment—one that connects generations, creates collective memories, and reminds millions why football remains the country’s most beloved game.
A unique glimpse into Vietnamese culture
While the matches take place thousands of kilometres away, visitors can experience the excitement of the FIFA World Cup right in the heart of Vietnam. More than a global sporting event, the tournament has become a local cultural phenomenon—one that offers travellers a unique glimpse into Vietnam’s passion for football.
The World Cup reshapes the country’s nightlife. Activities that normally belong to the daytime spill well past midnight as cafés, restaurants, sports bars, rooftop venues and beer halls stay open for live screenings. Football-themed decorations, score prediction games and tournament promotions turn venues into lively gathering spots, where locals and visitors cheer, debate and celebrate side by side.
For travellers, joining a World Cup watch party is one of the easiest ways to experience Vietnam’s social culture. Many foreign visitors are impressed with the vibrant atmosphere and Vietnam’s strong affection for the World Cup.
During the 2022 tournament, for example, Ho Chi Minh City’s Bùi Viện Walking Street came alive as supporters from around the world gathered to watch matches together. Flags from different nations flew side by side, conversations shifted effortlessly between languages, and cheers echoed through the streets with every goal.
Perhaps that is what the World Cup has come to mean in Vietnam. Beyond the goals, the trophies and the final whistle, it is the memories that last. Watching the World Cup in Vietnam is more than watching football. It is joining a tradition that generations of Vietnamese have embraced as their own.
