Nguyễn Tiến Linh

Nguyễn Tiến Linh (born 20 October 1997) is a Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as a striker for V.League 1 club Công An Hồ Chí Minh City, which he captains, and the Vietnam national team.

In 2021, Tiến Linh was nominated by a panel of sports journalists and football experts for Best Footballer in Asia. He is considered one of the best Vietnamese footballers of his generation, and one of the best strikers in Southeast Asia at the moment. Linh won the Vietnamese Golden Ball in 2024.

Early life Nguyễn Tiến Linh was born and raised in the Cẩm Hoàng commune of the Cẩm Giang district, Hải Dương, Northern Vietnam. At the age of 2, his mother moved to South Korea for work, leaving him alone with his father for 7 years. At the age of 6, he followed his father further south to Bình Dương for permanent settlement. His mother returned to Vietnam when he was 9 years old.

Tiến Linh began playing football for his school team. At the age of 13, he followed his PE teacher's advice and participated in the trial test of Becamex Bình Dương, in which he was later admitted to the club. At first, he played as midfielder, but then switched to striker.

Club career Becamex Bình Dương With 5 goals, Tiến Linh was the top scorer of Vietnamese National U-19 Football Championship in 2015. In 2016, Tiến Linh made his first debut with Becamex Bình Dương .

Over 4 years, Tiến Linh scored 26 goals: 15 in 2018, 5 in 2020, and 6 in 2021 before the cancellation of the league due to COVID-19. Becamex Binh Duong won the Vietnamese National Football Super Cup and also placed second in the Vietnamese National Football Super Cup, also earning the Vietnamese Bronze Ball in 2021. In 2022, he earned the Vietnamese Silver Ball.

Tiến Linh won the Vietnamese Golden Ball award for the first time in 2024. In the 2024–25 season, Tiến Linh netted 14 goals and was initially the joint top scorer of V.League 1. However, one of his goals was cancelled after the league's examination as it was an own goal, which led Tiến Linh to lose his top scorer award.

Công An Hồ Chí Minh City On 1 August 2025, Tiến Linh departed from Becamex Bình Dương and signed for league fellow Công An Hồ Chí Minh City.

International career 2018: First Match for Vietnam and won AFF Championship On 8 November 2018, Tiến Linh made his debut for the national team in the match against Laos. He scored his first goal for Vietnam against Cambodia in their last group match. At the end, Tiến Linh and Vietnam won 2018 AFF Championship.

2019-present 2022 World Cup qualification On 15 October 2019, Tiến Linh scored his first goal in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Indonesia. A month later, he scored the only goal against UAE. In June 2021, he scored 3 goals in the last 3 matches of the second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification to promote Vietnam to the third round. On 1 February 2022, he scored a goal in the match against China to surpass Le Cong Vinh as the top scorer for Vietnam in the history of World Cup qualification.

2020 AFF Championship In 2020 AFF Championship, he scored a brace in a 4–0 win against Cambodia, but his team lost in the semi-finals to Thailand.

2022 AFF Championship Tiến Linh scored 6 goals in 2022 AFF Championship to share the top goalscorer award with Thai striker Teerasil Dangda, but Vietnam once again lost Thailand by 2–3 on aggregate in the finals.

2026 World Cup qualification During the 2nd round, Tiến Linh scored two goals against the Philippines and was awarded the Player of the Match title. Vietnam however was eliminated of the World Cup.

2024 ASEAN Championship Tiến Linh scored 4 goals in 2024 ASEAN Championship, where he combined with the naturalized player Nguyễn Xuân Son to become a perfect duo of strikers who contributed greatly to help Vietnam winning the Southeast Asian championship for the third time.

Career statistics Club

International As of match played 9 October 2025 Scores and results list Vietnam's goal tally first. ASEAN Championship All-Star XI: 2022, 2024 Vietnamese Silver Ball: 2022 Vietnamese Golden Ball: 2024 V.League 1 Team of the Season: 2024–25

Orders Third-class Labor Order: 2025