Foreign players dominate the Golden Boot title in V-League for over two decades

The competition for the V-League 2025/26 Golden Boot still sees foreign forwards prevailing, prolonging the fact that throughout the 22 seasons since 2003, this honor has nearly remained inaccessible to local footballers.

The V-League Golden Boot race has long seen an almost absolute dominance by foreign players. Since the league opened to foreign athletes in 2003, over 22 seasons, this title has been claimed by foreign strikers 21 times. This overwhelming figure highlights a significant gap in scoring efficiency between domestic and international players at Vietnam's top football arena.

The rare mark of a Vietnamese player in this race belongs to Nguyen Anh Duc, who scored 17 goals for Binh Duong Club to win the Golden Boot. However, this remains the sole case to date, as most seasons have witnessed foreign players occupying the top spot.

In the V-League 2025/26 season, the familiar scenario repeats. After 19 out of 26 rounds, the scoring list remains in the hands of foreign forwards. Brazilian striker Alan (Hanoi Police Club) leads with 14 goals, four more than the runner-up Tagueu Tadjo (Haiphong Club) with 10.

Meanwhile, the best-performing domestic player, Nguyen Hoang Duc (Ninh Binh Club), has only scored 6 goals after 18 rounds, ranking 10th in the top scorers list. Other Vietnamese players like Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong (5 goals), Nguyen Dinh Bac (4 goals), or Pham Gia Hung (4 goals) are left far behind, making the chance to compete for the title nearly zero with only 7 rounds remaining.

Notably, this year's race also features the prominent participation of naturalized player Do Hoang Hen (Hanoi Club), who has scored 9 goals and currently ranks third. With stable form, Hoang Hen could directly compete with Alan and Tagueu in the final stretch.

V-League has had many Golden Boot winners who are naturalized players, but most claimed the title while still being foreigners. Do Merlo (2009, 2010, 2011, 2016) and Nguyen Xuan Son (2003, 2023/24) both ascended before naturalization, while only Hoang Vu Samson won after naturalizing (2014). With current performance, Do Hoang Hen could follow suit, but this title still primarily belongs to foreign players.

Foreign players dominate the V-League Golden Boot rankings

Foreign player from CAHN dominates the V-League Golden Boot race