In 2016 the AFC U-23 Championship, a biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation, was held for the second time. This year was the first time that the national team of Vietnam took part, but could not make it to the knockout stage.

Two years later, however, things looked different. They made it to the knockout stage, beat Iraq and Qatar and made it to the final. It was during this time that football fever broke out in Vietnam and thrilled young and old alike.

On 27 January the team then played Uzbekistan in the final of the cup. Even before the game started, all of Vietnam was celebrating its entry into the final. The match ended 1-2 at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre in China with the cheers of the Uzbek fans. But that did not dampen the mood of the Vietnamese fans and they celebrated the second place of the competition until late into the night.

This set of pictures were taken in Hoi An in the center of Vietnam.