Nguyễn Quang Hải (footballer, born 1997)

Nguyễn Quang Hải (born 12 April 1997) is a Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for V.League 1 club Hanoi Police and the Vietnam national team.

Considered one of the best footballers in Asia, Quang Hải is widely regarded as one of the greatest Vietnamese footballers ever, along with Nguyễn Hồng Sơn, Lê Công Vinh, and Lê Huỳnh Đức. In 2018 and 2019|2020, he was nominated by a panel of sports journalists and football experts for the Best Footballer in Asia award.

Early life and youth career
Quang Hải was born in Đông Anh in 1997, joined Hanoi T&T's youth academy at the age of 9. By 2013, he played in the under-19 league at the age of 16.

After playing for Vietnam at various youth levels, Quang Hải made his debut for the Vietnam national team in 2017. His first goal came against Cambodia in September 2017.

Hanoi
A product of the capital club Hanoi, Quang Hải made his professional debut in 2014 for the club. In just 3 years, he rose to become one of the most promising products of the club, winning the 2015 V.League 2 before repeating the feat in the 2016 V.League 1. Following a successful Vietnam run in 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, in which he demonstrated a stellar performance, he became a regular face of the club as he played a major role in the club's winning two consecutive V.League seasons in 2018 and 2019. He also helped the club to win two consecutive Vietnamese National Football Cup in 2019 and 2020.

In March 2022, he announced that he would leave the club, expressing his desire to go to Europe to cement his career. His last match for his home club came on 7 April 2022 when his club won 4–0 over Cong An Nhan Dan FC. Though not scoring, Quang Hải provided an assist in this win.

Pau
On 29 June 2022, following rumors about his future, Quang Hải joined Ligue 2 club Pau on a two-season contract, making him the first Vietnamese player to join a French football club..

On 30 July 2022, he made his first league appearance for Pau, subbed on for Eddy Sylvestre in the 59th minute in the 4–0 away loss against En Avant Guingamp. On 8 October 2022, he scored his first goal for Pau in the 86th minute in a home match against Rodez in Ligue 2. He scored Pau's second goal of the match, after a brief 8-minute period of playing time, to tie the match 2–2. This scoreline remained to full-time.

Hanoi Police
In the summer of 2023, Quang Hải returned to Vietnam to play for Hanoi Police.

Quang Hải made his debut for Hanoi Police in a 0-1 away defeat against SHB Da Nang. He scored the first goal for the club in the derby game against Viettel from a penalty, contributing in a 3-0 win. In the final round of the 2023 V.League 1, Quang Hải had his assist against Thanh Hoa as Gustavo to score the equalizer to help Cong An Ha Noi maintain their first place in the table, winning the league for the first time since 1984.

In the 2023-24 season, Quang Hải scored 8 goals in V.League 1.

Under-16 to under-20
Nguyễn Quang Hải was called up for the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship qualification at the age of only 14.

After an impressive performance in the 2014 under-19 National Championship, Quang Hải was called up to the national U19 side. He went on to represent the U19 team in the 2014 AFF U-19 Youth Championship and the Bruneian Hassanal Bolkiah Championship, where Vietnam finished as runner-up on both occasions.

He made a significant contribution in the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship campaign. In the second game against the United Arab Emirates, he assisted Hồ Minh Dĩ in Vietnam's opening goal. Vietnam went on to beat host Bahrain in the quarterfinal, thus qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. This was Vietnam's first appearance in a youth FIFA World Cup tournament.

He captained the Vietnam U20 in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup group stage matches against Honduras and France.

Under-23 national team
Quang Hải was first called up to the U23 national team for a friendly against the Malaysia U23 in February 2017. He was then included in the Vietnam squad for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. In the decisive game against Thailand, he was on the bench for the first half, and immediately made an impact in the second one, being fouled by Ratthanakorn Maikami in the penalty area. Nguyễn Công Phượng, however, missed the spot-kick as Vietnam lost 3–0 and was eliminated.

The appointment of head coach Park Hang-seo saw a significant improvement in the under-23 team hierarchy, as Quang Hải started becoming untouchable in the team's front 3. He was widely praised as a national hero during the historic 2018 AFC U-23 Championship campaign, as the Vietnam U23 upset major title contenders en route to their very first continental final.

Quang Hải had been instrumental for the team from the group stage, scoring both of the team's 2 goals. The one against Australia ensured him a Man of the match award. He also converted his penalty kick during the shootout in the quarterfinal against Iraq, thus securing Vietnam a spot in the semi-final. Quang Hải's performance against the Qatar in the semi-final was widely believed to be his most plausible. Quang Hải leveled the score with a low range half-volley in the 69th minute, only for Almoez Ali to regained Qatar's lead in the 87th. He immediately struck back, beautifully controlled the loose ball following a free-kick, then faking a shot to dribble past through two defenders flamboyantly before placing the shot into the far corner; all happened within a minute from the Almoez Ali's goal. He later missed his own in the penalty-shootout, but Vietnam ended up winning 4–3 and advanced to the final. In the final, Quang Hải once again impressed, equalized the score with a free-kick goal. The goal, nicknamed "rainbow in the snow" by the media, has become a symbol for the unprecedented emotional excitement brought to the Vietnamese people by the historic campaign, as well as the national spirit that goes with it. The goal was later voted as the goal of the tournament. Vietnam, however, lost to the Uzbekistan in the last minute of extra time.

He was widely considered to be one of the best players of the tournament, being inducted into several teams of the tournament by various sources. His ability to score from long range was one of the key technical talking points mentioned by the AFC. There were even aggressive criticisms by the Southeast Asian media towards the AFC for not awarding the Most Valuable Player to Quang Hải. At the end of the tournament, Quang Hải, along with teammate Bui Tien Dung, was awarded the 3rd class Labor Order for his impressive performance.

Quang Hải was named into Vietnam’s Asian Games 2018 lineup. Quang Hải scored one goal in Vietnam’s 3–0 win over Pakistan. In a match against Japan, he scored the only goal of the match as Vietnam defeated Japan to top the Group. Vietnam later went all the way to the semi-finals for the first time in their history at the Asian games, where they were defeated by South Korea 3–1. Vietnam later lost to the UAE in a penalty shootout in the Bronze Medal Match.

Quang Hải captained and scored one goal for Vietnam in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in a 6–1 win against Laos before he was injured in a match against Singapore and missed the rest of the tournament. However, Vietnam still went on without him to defeat Indonesia in the final to win the gold medal, their first gold in the SEA games football competition since South Vietnam won in 1959.

Senior national team
On 13 June 2017, Quang Hải made his international debut for the Vietnam senior team, against Jordan, in a match that ended in a 0–0 draw. He scored his first senior goal for Vietnam against Cambodia on 5 September 2017, coming on as a substitute and scored a late winner. In the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup Quang Hải played every very minute but 2 as Vietnam won its first Southeast Asian football championship in 10 years. In the first three games of the group stages, he was given a midfield position by head coach Park Hang-seo, which raised the question among the fans. In the last one against Cambodia, he reclaimed a slot in the front 3 and was immediately awarded Man of the match. He played as an advanced playmaker for the rest of the tournament, being awarded Man of the match twice. The first one was in the semi-final second leg against the Philippines, where he broke the deadlock and helped secure the first home win in the knockout phase of the AFF Championship for Vietnam. The last one was clinched as he assisted Nguyễn Anh Đức the winning goal in the final against the Malaysia. At the end of the tournament, he was a part of the team of AFF Cup's Best XI, and was chosen as the Most valuable player. He was honorably given the second-class Labor Order by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. He won the Vietnamese Golden Ball few days later, thanks largely to his performance in the AFF Championship. Quang Hải gained international reputation in 2019 AFC Asian Cup when he played an instrumental part on Vietnam's amazing run in the tournament, including a stunning free kick goal against Yemen as Vietnam won 2–0, and sneaked into the Knockout rounds. Vietnam defeated Jordan in the Round of 16, but fell short 1–0 to the eventual runners up of the tournament, Japan in the quarterfinals. Still, Quang Hải was named Man of the Match on both Vietnam's wins in the tournament, and was inducted into the tournament's official all-star squad by the AFC Technical Committee. On 8 November 2019, he defeated Chanathip Songkrasin of Thailand to win the AFF's Men Player of the year, an award for the best Southeast Asian player in recent two years. Quang Hải scored 3 goals in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, which helped Vietnam to reach the final round of qualification for the first-time ever. In the first match in the third qualifying round of the World Cup against Saudi Arabia, it was Quang Hải who fired a long shot from the third minute to help Vietnam take a 1-0 lead, but then the team lost 1-3. Despite their best efforts, Vietnam accepted to be eliminated when they were at the bottom of the table with 4 points.

He scored 2 goals in 2020 AFF Cup. But even so, Vietnam was still eliminated before Thailand in the semi-finals.

At the 2022 AFF Cup finals, Quang Hải clearly lost his form after a long time on the bench in Pau, Vietnam also lost with the total score after two 2-3 matches in the final against Thailand.

International

 * Scores and results list Vietnam's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Quang Hải goal.

International goals

 * Scores and results list Vietnam's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Quang Hải goal.

Honours
Hanoi T&T Youth
 * U19 Vietnamese National Championship: 2014, 2016
 * U21 Vietnamese National Championship: 2013, 2015, 2016

Saigon
 * V.League 2: 2015

Hanoi
 * V.League 1: 2016, 2018, 2019
 * Vietnamese National Cup: 2019, 2020
 * Vietnamese Super Cup: 2018, 2019, 2020

Hanoi Police
 * V.League 1: 2023

Vietnam U19
 * AFF U-19 Youth Championship runner-up: 2014, 2015
 * Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy runner-up: 2014

Vietnam U22
 * Southeast Asian Games: 2019

Vietnam U23/Olympic
 * M-150 Cup third-place: 2017
 * AFC U-23 Asian Cup runners-up: 2018
 * VFF Cup: 2018
 * Asian Games fourth place: 2018

Vietnam
 * AFF Championship: 2018; runners-up: 2022
 * King's Cup runner-up: 2019
 * VFF Cup: 2022

Individual
 * Asian Games Best XI: 2018
 * AFF Championship Best XI: 2018, 2020
 * AFF Championship MVP: 2018
 * Vietnamese Golden Ball: 2018
 * Vietnamese Silver Ball: 2019, 2021
 * Vietnamese Bronze Ball: 2017
 * Second-class Labor Order: 2018
 * Third-class Labor Order: 2018
 * V.League 1 Best young player: 2017, 2018
 * V.League 1 Player of the Season: 2019
 * V.League 1 Team of the Season: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
 * ASEAN Football Federation Best XI: 2019
 * AFF Men’s Player of the Year: 2019
 * AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 2019
 * V.League 1 Goal of the Year: 2020
 * AFC Cup All-time XI