Dinh Bac is in a strong position to win the Golden Boot at the 2026 ASEAN Cup.

Nguyen Dinh Bac is leading the race for the Golden Boot at the 2026 ASEAN Cup with five goals after the group stage. This achievement places the Vietnamese striker ahead of Indonesia's Mitchell Baker and Myanmar's Win Naing Tun (four goals each).

However, since Mitchell Baker (Indonesia) and Win Naing Tun (Myanmar) have been eliminated from the 2026 ASEAN Cup, Dinh Bac's chances of winning the Golden Boot are very high, with Vietnam still having at least two semifinal matches ahead.

Statistics about Dinh Bac

Meanwhile, Paulo Josue (Malaysia) and Ilhan Fandi (Singapore) each have three goals and have advanced to the semifinals with their teams. However, these strikers will need to work hard if they want to catch up with Dinh Bac in the Golden Boot race.

After four matches, Dinh Bac has started all four, played 311 minutes, scored five goals, with a rate of one goal every 65 minutes. He has nine shots on target, a 60% shooting accuracy, along with one assist and six key passes.

Notably, Dinh Bac was only the second-most prolific shooter in the group stage of the 2026 ASEAN Cup (15 shots) behind Mitchell Baker (22). Nevertheless, Dinh Bac showed better scoring efficiency. However, those five goals were not evenly distributed. Dinh Bac scored a hat-trick in the 7-0 win against Timor-Leste, then went silent against Singapore, failed to score in the 3-0 victory over Indonesia, and ended the group stage with a brace against Cambodia.

Against Timor-Leste, Dinh Bac had ideal conditions to showcase his speed, movement, and positioning. However, when facing Singapore, Vietnam drew 0-0 at My Dinh Stadium and Dinh Bac did not score, despite having opportunities. Notably, in that match, Dinh Bac was substituted early. In the match against Indonesia, Dinh Bac again failed to score, but Vietnam still won thanks to the brilliance of other individuals.

After two goalless matches, Dinh Bac returned in the game against Cambodia. He scored in the 18th and 89th minutes. In one of them, he received the ball outside the penalty area, dribbled past several Cambodian defenders, and finished to open the scoring. Later in the match, Dinh Bac executed a lob over the goalkeeper to seal the final score.

These two goals were important because they showed that Dinh Bac was not affected by the previous two matches. He still knew how to appear at the right time and take his chances.

Dinh Bac's impressive performance against Cambodia proved that he remains a dangerous weapon in Vietnam's attack that opponents must be wary of. Most importantly, Dinh Bac showed that head coach Kim Sang-sik was right to place his trust in him.

What is special is that Dinh Bac has shown he can create his own chances to score. Meanwhile, Indonesia's Mitchell Baker still relies on assists from teammates to find the net. This shows that coach Kim Sang-sik possesses a player with high game-changing ability, capable of deciding the fate of a match.

And if Dinh Bac wins the 2026 ASEAN Cup Golden Boot, it will be a clear statement about the ability of a domestic striker in the Vietnam national team, showing that coach Kim Sang-sik's side does not rely on naturalized forwards.

For Dinh Bac personally, he is having an explosive year. At the 2026 Asian U23 Championship, Dinh Bac won the Golden Boot with four goals. In the previous V-League season, Dinh Bac shone with 10 goals in 23 matches, and now he is leading the scoring charts at the 2026 ASEAN Cup. These are very positive statistics for Dinh Bac, showing that he is gradually shedding the label of a young player and rising to become a prominent figure for both the national team and his club.

It has been a long time since Vietnamese fans witnessed a domestic striker with such impressive form across different competitions in a single year. Dinh Bac's rapid development is also a positive sign as the Vietnam national team prepares for upcoming tournaments such as the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 and the Asian Cup 2027.

At the 2024 ASEAN Cup, naturalized striker Xuan Son was the Golden Boot winner with seven goals. Son not only scored in the group stage but also shone in the semifinals and final, helping Vietnam win the 2024 ASEAN Cup.

Now, Dinh Bac needs to maintain his high form in the upcoming matches. To win the 2026 ASEAN Cup, Vietnam will need moments of brilliance from their attacking players, including Dinh Bac.

Vietnam's semifinal opponent is Malaysia, a team considered to be of higher quality than Timor-Leste and Cambodia, and capable of applying more pressure. However, Malaysia's defense also showed vulnerabilities in the group stage, conceding three goals—against Myanmar and Thailand.

The two semifinal matches against Malaysia are an opportunity for Dinh Bac to increase his goal tally and help Vietnam reach the final.