Nguyễn Công Phượng (born 21 January 1995) is a Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as a forward or an attacking midfielder for V.League 1 club Đồng Nai City.
Công Phuợng is lauded as "Vietnamese Messi" by fans and the media due to his playing style and physique, Công Phượng is one of the most promising football talents in Vietnam. He is a product of HAGL – Arsenal JMG Academy and was promoted to Hoàng Anh Gia Lai senior team in 2015. Công Phượng was voted in 2015 as the "Best Young Player of the Year". He has played in Belgium, South Korea and Japan.
Early life Công Phượng was born on 21 January 1995 in Mỹ Sơn, Đô Lương District, Nghệ An Province. He is the fifth child out of 17 children of Nguyễn Công Bảy and Nguyễn Thị Hoa; his family was poor when he was growing up.
Công Phượng has been interested in football since his childhood. Around the age of 5, he started to play football using a ball made of straw with his 2-year-older brother Nguyễn Công Khoa, who later drowned in 2004 at the age of 9.
Club career
Early career Công Phượng first started his proper football training at the age of 10 when he was introduced to the Đô Lương district sport center by a local football coach Trương Quang Vinh. In 2006, he played for the Đô Lương District youth team at Nghệ An province's football competition. Impressed Song Lam Nghe An's staff at the competition, Công Phượng was invited into Sông Lam Nghệ An youth team but after a month of trial, he wasn't accepted because he didn't meet the weight requirement. Công Phượng's weight at that time was only 25.4 kg, while the minimum requirement was 30 kg and 27 kg for special cases. In 2007, upon hearing the news about HAGL – Arsenal JMG Academy recruitment program, Công Phượng persuaded his parent to bring him to Pleiku, where HAGL – Arsenal JMG Academy based for the try-out. He was one of the only 14 candidates who was accepted in to the academy out of about 7 thousand candidates from all over the country in the first selection.
In June 2010, Công Phượng and Nguyễn Tuấn Anh were the only two players from HAGL– Arsenal JMG Academy that were invited to a 15 days overseas training program in Cambodia. It was a training program for top players of JMG Academy from all over the globe.
In November 2012, Công Phượng along with Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, Lương Xuân Trường, Trần Hữu Đông Triều were four of the players from the academy received the invitation to train with English Premier League side Arsenal under-17 team. In the letter, Arsenal's performance supervisor, Steve Morrow stated that manager Arsène Wenger was impressed with the academy's players when they beat Oxford United under-17 team in January 2013.
In winter 2014, HAGL – Arsenal JMG Academy team defeated Nepal U21 3–0 in the International U21 Thanh Niên Newspaper Cup final. A double by Công Phượng secured the crown for his team.
Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
2015: First season
In 2015, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai revolutionized their first team, the club released most of their players in the senior team, only a few players was kept to guide young player from the academy. Công Phượng was promoted to first team along with other academy's player from the first selection. Công Phượng was given number 44 shirt instead of number 10 which he always wore when play for academy team and national U–19 team.
Công Phượng made his V.League 1 debut on 4 January 2015 at the opening game of the season against Sanna Khánh Hòa. HAGL won this game 4–2 as Công Phượng scored a brace. Công Phượng scored another brace at the eighth round against Đồng Tháp. Công Phượng finished 2015 season with 6 goals in 25 appearances, he was club's leading goalscorer and had second most appearance. On 6 January 2016, Công Phượng won the 2015 young player of the year award, beating his club mate Nguyễn Tuấn Anh who won it the previous year and Hà Nội's player Đỗ Duy Mạnh.
2017 season: Improvement After one season in Japan, Công Phượng returned to HAGL to play in 2017 V.League. He scored 7 goals in that season.
2018 season: Outstanding individual performance
2018 was one of his best season for HAGL. Công Phượng scored 12 goals at league and 4 goals at domestic cup.
Although his club just finished 11th at the end of season, Phượng was still selected in V.League's Team of the season by his performances.
2021 season: Dream season Công Phượng returned to the club after his loan contract with Hồ Chí Minh City get expired, followed by the arrival of the new coach Kiatisak Senamuang.
Phượng and HAGL was on fire that season, they were top of the table after 12 rounds, but the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. He had 6 goals after 12 matches in that campaign.
2022 season: Last year at Pleiku 2022 was his last season at HAGL. On 19 April, Phượng got an assist in 1–1 draw against Sydney FC at 2022 AFC Champions League group stage. He just scored 5 goals in 24 matches, all of them were in the league.
Mito HollyHock (loan) In 2016, Công Phượng has been loaned to Mito HollyHock for $100,000 in the J2 League. On 7 May 2016, Công Phượng made his debut for Mito HollyHock, coming on as a substitute in the 87-minute in a match against Giravanz Kitakyushu that ended 1–0.
Incheon United (loan) On 13 February 2019, he was loaned to K League 1 team Incheon United on a loan deal until the end of 2019 season. He made the debut for the club in the 2–1 victory against Gyeongnam, came as a substitute in the extra time of the second half.
On 1 June 2019, after just half season of the loan contract, he was released by Incheon United, which followed his desire. After 14 rounds of 2019 K League 1, he only played 401 minutes among 8 games for the team, and didn't score any goal.
Sint-Truiden (loan) On 30 June 2019, a Japanese newspaper named Sponichi confirmed that Công Phượng was going to join Sint-Truiden on loan for 1 season. He made his debut for Sint-Truiden, in the 0–6 defeat against Club Brugge on 2 August, coming on in the 70th minute. However, he was excluded permanently from the squad after this game. He was mainly used for the youth team, had played 5 games and scored 1 goal against Club Brugge U21 on 27 August 2019.
After the failure half-season at STVV, Công Phượng returnted to Vietnam and played for Ho Chi Minh City, the runner-up of 2019 V.League 1, on another loan contract.
Hồ Chí Minh City Công Phượng scored his first goal for the club in 2020 AFC Cup group stage match against Myanmar club Yangon United on 11 February 2020.
Công Phượng had the first time playing a final match at the club level, against Hà Nội at Vietnamese Super Cup. At the 20th minute, he surprised the audience by a long shot to bring an advantage to his club. But with a higher level of skills and experience, Hà Nội quickly controlled the match and scored 2 goals to win the match.
On 17 June, he scored a goal and assisted another in a 3–0 victory against Viettel. He did the same against Than Quảng Ninh on 11 July, also a 3–0 victory.
On 26 September, Công Phượng impressively scored a brace in the 5–1 victory against Nam Định, but later he got toe injured during the game which made him be almost absent for the rest of 2020 season. He finally comeback in the club's last match of the season, against Becamex Bình Dương, coming as a substitute in 64th minute. In total, Công Phượng had 10 goals after 19 appearances during the loan spell at the Red Battle Ship.
Yokohama FC On 25 December 2022, Công Phượng was officially announced as a new signing of newly promoted J1 League side Yokohama FC. He made his debut for the club on 5 April 2023 when coming on as a substitute, a 2–3 loss against Nagoya Grampus in the J.League Cup.
On 24 April 2024, he made his first start for the club in the 2024 J.League Cup fixture against Fagiano Okayama.
On 14 September 2024, he has decided to left the club after 2 years without much playing time.
Đồng Nai City
Following the departure from Yokohama FC, Công Phượng returned to Vietnam. There were rumours that he could join a V.League 2 club as the summer transfer market for Vietnamese player of 2024–25 V.League 1 has been closed.
On 21 September 2024, Phượng signed a 3-year contract with V.League 2 side Trường Tươi Bình Phước. He scored the first goal for the club in the debut match on 19 October, against LPBank Ho Chi Minh City in a Vietnamese Cup game. Công Phượng had a great start in Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc shirt with 5 goals after 6 matches, 4 in V.League 2 and 1 in the cup.
On 12 January 2025, he scored against his former club Hoàng Anh Gia Lai when returned to Pleiku Stadium, in the Vietnamese Cup game. However, his side was eliminated when losing on penalties, after a 1–1 draw in official time.
On 20 June, Phượng scored two free-kick goals in a game against Hòa Bình. Six days later, he scored another free-kick against Đồng Tháp and became the first Vietnamese footballer to scored three free-kick goals in two consecutive matches.
On 22 March 2025, Phượng was confirmed that he has been diagnosed with a meniscus tear, the injury on his knee that doesn't require surgery, but it will still keep him sidelined for a long time, meaning he will miss the 2025–26 V.League 2 season for 1 month, 24 days (55 days).
On 16 May 2026, during the match against Hồ Chí Minh City Youth, Phượng returned to score after the injury on the 86th minute, scoring his third goal of the match and first goal of his season.
After their promotion to the Vietnamese top-flight, Trường Tươi Đồng Nai changed their name to Đồng Nai City. On 4 September 2026, Công Phượng appeared in his first V.League 1 game after 6 years, appearing in Đồng Nai City's 0–2 defeat to Thể Công–Viettel in the first matchday of the 2026–27 V.League 1.
International career
Youth
Công Phượng was first called up to Vietnam U-19 team in September 2013 to participate in 2013 AFF U-19 Youth Championship. The team made it into the final with unbeaten run of five wins but eventually lost out to host nation Indonesia U–19 in the penalty shoot-out (7–6). Công Phượng scored twice in this competition.
Công Phượng was the top goal scorer at the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship qualification held in October 2013. He scored 7 goals which include a brace against Australia U–19, the game ended with a shocking result of 5–1 win for U–19 Vietnam. His team finished at the top of the group with 9 points and qualified for the final tournament.
At the 2014 AFF U-19 Youth Championship in September 2014, Công Phượng scored a stunning solo goal against Australia U–19 right at the end of the game which help his team achieve a 1–0 victory. The goal was voted as goal of tournament; this goal helped to raise Công Phượng's popularity even more. Công Phượng scored another goal in the game against U–19 Japan. His team made it into the final and ended up as runner up after lost the game 0–1 to Japan U–19.
Công Phượng captained his team at 2014 AFC U-19 Championship held in October 2014. They were put in a tough group with other Asia powerhouses, Japan U–19, South Korea U–19, and China U–19. His team failed to make it through the group stage with 2 losses and 1 draw. This is Công Phượng's last tournament with the U–19 side.
In March 2015, Công Phượng represented Vietnam U-23 at 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification. He scored 4 goals that helped the team to qualify for the final tournament in 2016.
Công Phượng was a part of Vietnam's squad that played at 2015 SEA Games. His team won the bronze medal, Công Phượng contributed 3 goals, one of which against Malaysia was voted as goal of the tournament.
Công Phượng had a good individual performance at 2017 SEA Games by scoring 4 goals, but his team was unfortunately eliminated in the group stage. He also missed the penalty in the crucial game against Thailand, which lost a good chance for his team to bounce back, when Vietnam was being led 0–2.