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 and the Vietnam national team.[2]
In 2021, Tiến Linh was nominated by a panel of sports journalists and football experts for Best Footballer in Asia.[3] 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.
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.[4]
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.[5]
With 5 goals, Tiến Linh was the top scorer of Vietnamese National U-19 Football Championship in 2015. A year after, 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.[6] 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.[7] In 2022, he earned the Vietnamese Silver Ball.
Tiến Linh won the Vietnamese Golden Ball award for the first time in 2024.[8] 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 goal was cancelled after the league's examination as it was an own goal, which lead Tiến Linh lose his top scorer award.[9]
On 1 August 2025, Tiến Linh departed from Becamex Bình Dương and signed for league fellow Công An Hồ Chí Minh City.[10]
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.
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.[citation needed]
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.
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.
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.
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.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Becamex Bình Dương | 2016 | V.League 1 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 20 | 3 | |
| 2017 | V.League 1 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 17 | 3 | |||
| 2018 | V.League 1 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 15 | |||
| 2019 | V.League 1 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7[b] | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | 28 | 10 | |
| 2020 | V.League 1 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 5 | |||
| 2021 | V.League 1 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 6 | |||
| 2022 | V.League 1 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 9 | |||
| 2023 | V.League 1 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 20 | 4 | |||
| 2023–24 | V.League 1 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 3 | — | — | 29 | 11 | |||
| 2024–25 | V.League 1 | 25 | 13 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 29 | 15 | |||
| Total | 181 | 70 | 29 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 219 | 81 | ||
| Cong An Hồ Chí Minh City | 2025–26 | V.League 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 3 | ||
| Total career | 187 | 73 | 29 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 225 | 84 | ||
As of match played 10 June 2025[11]
| National Team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | 2018 | 5 | 2 |
| 2019 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 16 | 7 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 3 | |
| 2023 | 9 | 4 | |
| 2024 | 13 | 7 | |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 62 | 25 | |
Scores and results list Vietnam's goal tally first. [11]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 24 November 2018 | Hàng Đẫy Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam |  Cambodia |
1–0 | 3–0 | 2018 AFF Championship |
| 2. | 25 December 2018 | Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam |  North Korea |
1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 3. | 15 October 2019 | Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar, Indonesia |  Indonesia |
3–0 | 3–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4. | 14 November 2019 | Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam |  United Arab Emirates |
1–0 | 1–0 | |
| 5. | 7 June 2021 | Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Indonesia |
1–0 | 4–0 | |
| 6. | 11 June 2021 |  Malaysia |
1–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 7. | 15 June 2021 | Zabeel Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | United Arab Emirates |
1–3 | 2–3 | |
| 8. | 7 October 2021 | Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates |  China |
2–2 | 2–3 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9. | 12 October 2021 | Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman |  Oman |
1–0 | 1–3 | |
| 10. | 19 December 2021 | Bishan Stadium, Bishan, Singapore | Cambodia |
1–0 | 4–0 | 2020 AFF Championship |
| 11. | 2–0 | |||||
| 12. | 1 February 2022 | Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam | China |
2–0 | 3–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 13. | 21 December 2022 | New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane, Laos |  Laos |
1–0 | 6–0 | 2022 AFF Championship |
| 14. | 27 December 2022 | Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam | Malaysia |
1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 15. | 3 January 2023 |  Myanmar |
2–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 16. | 9 January 2023 | Indonesia |
1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 17. | 2–0 | |||||
| 18. | 13 January 2023 |  Thailand |
1–0 | 2–2 | ||
| 19. | 6 June 2024 |  Philippines |
1–1 | 3–2 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 20. | 2–1 | |||||
| 21. | 10 September 2024 | Thailand |
1–0 | 1–2 | 2024 LPBank Cup | |
| 22. | 9 December 2024 | New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane, Laos | Laos |
2–0 | 4–1 | 2024 ASEAN Championship |
| 23. | 21 December 2024 | Việt Trì Stadium, Việt Trì, Vietnam | Myanmar |
5–0 | 5–0 | |
| 24. | 26 December 2024 | Jalan Besar Stadium, Kallang, Singapore |  Singapore |
1–0 | 2–0 | |
| 25. | 29 December 2024 | Việt Trì Stadium, Việt Trì, Vietnam | 3–1 | 3–1 |
Becamex Bình Dương
Vietnam
Vietnam U23
Individual
Orders
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