On February 1, 2022, Vietnam men's national team played against the China PR in the eighth match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round at the Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam. In this match, Vietnam surprisingly won 3–1 right on their home field to make China no longer have a chance to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with goals from Hồ Tấn Tài in the 9th minute, Nguyễn Tiến Linh in the 16th minute and Phan Văn Đức in the 76th minute. The result of the match then caused huge shock and anger from Chinese football fans, leading to this match being dubbed Hanoi massacre () by the Chinese newspaper. And was later regarded as "The most humiliating defeat in Chinese football history".

In contrast to the anger of Chinese fans, the Vietnamese side was delighted with the result of this match, as it not only ended a losing streak against their opponents since their first meeting in 1997, but also helped Vietnam become the first national football team in Southeast Asia to win a match in the third qualifying round of the World Cup. As the match also took place on the occasion of the traditional Lunar New Year of both countries, this victory became even more meaningful and brought great joy to the Vietnamese people on New Year's Day. This is the only time Vietnam has won against China so far.

Background

The third round of the qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup in Asia was played from September 2, 2021 to March 29, 2022. The twelve teams that advanced from the second round (the seven group winners excluding Qatar and the five best group runners-up) were divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams advanced to the fourth round (consisted of a single-match playoff). The first leg match between Vietnam and China took place on October 28, 2021 at the Shajah Stadium in the UAE. At the time of this match, the qualifying round had gone through 7 rounds.

This match will be the eighth time the two teams have faced each other, since their first meeting in 1997. In all previous encounters, China has always had the absolute advantage in terms of head-to-head record, winning all seven matches. At the same time, the match will take place on the first day of the Lunar New Year – an occasion of special significance in Vietnamese culture and one of the most important holidays in the cultures of both countries.

Teams Vietnam

Vietnam performed impressively in the second qualifying round when they were in Group G with the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Under the guidance of coach Park Hang-seo, the team won 17 points after 8 matches, ranked second in the group and was one of the five best second-placed teams, thereby winning the right to enter the third qualifying round. This is considered a historic milestone for Vietnamese football, when for the first time the national team advanced to the final qualifying round of the Asian region. However, when entering the third qualifying round, the Vietnamese team had to face the top opponents in the continent. The team was in Group B, along with Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Oman and China. After the first seven matches before the match against China, the Vietnamese team lost all, did not gain any points, scored 4 goals and conceded 16 goals. Although they left some marks such as the resilient away match against Japan (lost 0–1) or caused difficulties for Saudi Arabia at Mỹ Đình Stadium, the team still failed to show effectiveness in defense and taking advantage of opportunities. Despite this, coach Park Hang-seo and his players remained determined to fight for pride and points in the remaining fixtures, especially against regional rivals like China.

In terms of personnel, the Vietnamese team entered the match against China with many difficulties related to the COVID-19 epidemic. Some key players could not participate in the first training sessions due to illness or injury treatment. However, as the match day approached, the team's personnel were basically stable. The match also witnessed the return of fans to Mỹ Đình Stadium after a long period without spectators due to the impact of the pandemic. In addition, public pressure on the team and coaching staff also increased after a series of unsatisfactory results, in the context of increasing expectations from fans after success in regional and continental tournaments in the 2018–2021 period.

China

China entered the third qualifying round as the second-placed team in Group A of the second qualifying round, behind Syria. Under the guidance of coach Li Tie in the early stages of the qualifiers, China were expected to compete for a place in the 2022 World Cup, especially after naturalizing a number of players with Brazilian and European roots such as Elkeson, Alan Carvalho, and Tyias Browning. However, after the first 6 matches in the third qualifying round, the Chinese team only won 5 points, with 1 win (against Vietnam), 2 draws and 4 losses. The performance did not meet expectations, forcing coach Li Tie to resign in early December 2021. Coach Li Xiaopeng was immediately appointed as a replacement in the context that the team needed to refresh its approach and regain the trust of fans. Before the match, the Chinese team was ranked 5th in Group B, 5 points ahead of Vietnam. In addition, the Chinese team also faced many difficulties in preparation, including not being able to play at home due to strict COVID-19 control measures in the country. Instead, they had to play at a neutral venue in the West Asia region throughout the qualifying stage, and the match was the first time the team had to travel to Southeast Asia since the beginning of the qualifying round.

In the context of increasing pressure from domestic public opinion due to the unsatisfactory performance in the third qualifying round, the Chinese team is expected to enter the match with great determination to win completely, thereby boosting the team's spirit and somewhat allaying the wave of criticism from fans, especially when the confrontation with Vietnam takes place right on the occasion of the traditional New Year - a time with many sacred meanings and often associated with the hope of a favorable start to the new year according to Chinese cultural traditions. Head-to-head records

Compared to China, Vietnam has shown to be completely inferior in terms of direct confrontation achievements with this opponent in the past. This is even more understandable when the rankings on the FIFA rankings between the two teams at the time of this match were quite different, in which, China ranked 76th, while Vietnam ranked 102nd. In addition, China had once qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2002—the only time in the country's history. However, they exited the tournament in the group stage without scoring a goal and conceding nine in three matches.

Head-to-head history and statistics show that Vietnam has never won a match against a neighboring team. As of early February 2022, Vietnam had never beaten China in any official match or friendly encounter. The two teams first met in 1997 during the qualifiers for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. That match, held at Thống Nhất Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, ended in a 3–1 victory for China. Since then, they had faced each other six more times in various competitions, and China had won every one of those matches. Vietnam’s heaviest defeat to China came in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, a 1–6 loss on Chinese soil. Most recently, on October 7, 2021, the teams met in the first-leg encounter of the third-round qualifiers, played at Sharjah Stadium in the UAE, which served as China's home ground due to pandemic regulations. Despite falling two goals behind, Vietnam fought back valiantly to equalize at 2–2 in the 90th minute but a stoppage-time goal secured a 3–2 win for China, extending their perfect record against Vietnam.

Pre-match Before the eighth matchday, the situation in Group B showed a clear divergence in points between the top and bottom teams. Both China and Vietnam were in the group with little chance of advancing, and were closely matched at the bottom of the standings. Specifically, after the first seven matches, China had one win, two draws, and four losses, accumulating a total of 5 points with a goal difference of −6, placing them 5th in the standings. Vietnam was ranked just below them at the bottom. The Southeast Asian representative had suffered a streak of seven consecutive losses since the beginning of the qualifying round, failing to earn any points, scoring only 4 goals but conceding 20, resulting in a very poor goal difference of −12. The gap between the two teams before the eighth matchday was 5 points.

Match Summary

China kicked off the match at 19:00 local time (12:00 UTC) in front of a crowd of 6,099. Right from the first minutes, both teams entered the match with high determination, in which the Vietnamese team quickly demonstrated an active and effective playing style. In the 9th minute, defender Hồ Tấn Tài opened the scoring for the home team with an accurate header, after a pass from the right wing by captain Đỗ Hùng Dũng. This early goal created great momentum for the Vietnamese team to continue to maintain their attacking style. By the 16th minute, the score was raised to 2–0 when Hùng Dũng coordinated well with Nguyễn Tiến Linh, helping this striker finish close to the goal to double the gap. After conceding two goals in less than 20 minutes, China were forced to push forward in search of an equalizer. However, they struggled to break down the home team’s well-organised defence. China’s only notable chance of the first half came when Dai Wai Tsun free kick went over the crossbar in the closing minutes.

China try to put pressure on Vietnam's field in the second half. Zhang Yuning take the shot into the opponent's net in 49th minute, but the goal was not recognized because the referee determined it was offside. Although controlling the ball slightly at some points, the away team still did not create many truly dangerous situations. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese team maintained a disciplined playing style and took advantage of opportunities effectively. In the 76th minute, substitute Phan Văn Đức scored the third goal for the home team with a decisive long-range shot from outside the penalty area, raising the score to 3–0. It was not until the last minute of stoppage time that China was able to score a goal to reduce the score thanks to Xu Xin. However, this goal was only an honorary goal and could not change the outcome of the match. Box score

GK 23 Trần Nguyên Mạnh LWB 7 Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy CB 21 Trần Đình Trọng CB 16 Nguyễn Thành ChungCB 4 Bùi Tiến DũngRWB 13 Hồ Tấn Tài CM 8 Đỗ Hùng Dũng (c)CM 14 Nguyễn Hoàng ĐứcCM 19 Nguyễn Quang HảiCF 11 Phạm Tuấn Hải CF 22 Nguyễn Tiến Linh Substitutions:DF 12 Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh FW 20 Phan Văn Đức DF 17 Vũ Văn Thanh GK 1 Bùi Tấn Trường FW 10 Nguyễn Công Phượng Manager: Park Hang-seo GK 1 Yan JunlingRB 5 Zhang LinpengCB 20 Zhu ChenjieCB 6 Jiang GuangtaiLB 4 Wang ShenchaoCM 15 Wu Xi (c) CM 13 Xu Xin AM 21 Dai Weijun RW 7 Wu Lei CF 11 A Lan LW 18 Luo Guofu Substitutions:FW 14 Wei Shihao FW 9 Zhang Yuning FW 17 Liu Binbin DF 22 Yu Dabao Manager:Li Xiaopeng

Assistant referee: Mohamed Salman (Bahrain) Abdulla Saleh (Bahrain) Fourth official: Yahya Almulla (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Mohamad Amirul (Malaysia) Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

Team stats Statistics Vietnam China PR 3 1 6 11 4 5 42% 58% 2 3 15 14 1 3 1 3 0 0

Scoring summary Team Scorer Minute Score VIE 13 9 1–0 VIE VIE 22 16 2–0 VIE VIE 20 76 3–0 VIE CHN 13 90+7 3–1 VIE

Misconducts: 4 cautionsTeamPlayer (type)Minute CHN 5 CHN 36 CHN 43 VIE 45+2

Post-match After match 8, the rankings of the teams in group B are as follows:

Match at the same time