Vietnam-Thailand ASEAN Cup final tickets sell out within hours of online sales

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) opened online ticket sales for the final on Thursday, with the application reporting that all tickets had been sold by the evening.

Vietnam will host Thailand in the second leg at 8:00 pm on August 26.

Sold out within hours

VFF put tickets on sale through the Techcombank OneU app from 2:00 pm on Thursday until 8:00 pm on Friday, or until all tickets were sold.

The tickets were priced at VND500,000 (US$19.2), VND800,000 ($30.7), VND1.2 million ($46) and VND1.5 million ($57.6) each.

From around 4:00 pm on Thursday, the app began displaying notices that tickets were temporarily unavailable in all four price categories.

At 7:00 pm the same day, VFF officially announced that all online tickets for the match had been sold out.

Many prospective buyers took to social media to express their disappointment.

Thousands of fans reportedly queued online in an attempt to purchase tickets, only to encounter an overloaded system before being informed that tickets were no longer available.

The appeal of Vietnam's national team has continued to grow after head coach Kim Sang Sik's side secured a place in the 2026 ASEAN Championship final against Thailand.

Vietnam booked their place in the final by beating Malaysia 2-0 at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on Wednesday, completing a 4-0 aggregate victory.

Also, Thailand edged Singapore 4-3 on aggregate to set up another two-legged final against Vietnam.

Vietnam have emerged as strong contenders for the title after an impressive run, including an unbeaten record and a prolific scoring record.

Previously, for the second-leg semifinal between Vietnam and Malaysia at My Dinh Stadium, VFF conducted two rounds of online ticket sales on August 8 and 13, with tickets selling out within a few hours.

On match day, August 19, VFF also released additional tickets for direct purchase by fans.

The Hanoi-based stadium has a capacity of 40,000 spectators.

For major Vietnam national-team matches, demand for tickets typically exceeds available supply by several times.

As a result, fans frequently find themselves unable to complete online purchases because of system congestion or because tickets sell out while they are waiting in the queue.

Tickets for the match are distributed through several channels, with the majority made available to fans online.

VFF also reserves a certain number for Thai supporters in accordance with tournament regulations.

In addition, tickets must be allocated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), its commercial partners and VFF's own partners.

If tickets remain after the allocated quotas are filled–for example, if Thai supporters do not purchase their full allocation–, VFF could release additional tickets for direct sale to fans.

Whether any tickets for the August 26 Vietnam-Thailand final will be made available for direct purchase close to kick-off remains uncertain.

Given the enormous interest in the match, however, the possibility of a significant last-minute ticket release appears limited.

Vietnam team arrive in Thailand, take day off to recharge

While fans in Hanoi scrambled for second-leg tickets, the Vietnam national team arrived in Bangkok on Thursday afternoon to prepare for the first leg of the final against hosts Thailand.

The match will kick off at 8:00 pm on Saturday at Rajamangala Stadium.

The Vietnamese team departed Hanoi at 12:45 pm and arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 2:45 pm.

With the airport crowded with passengers, coach Kim and his players took nearly an hour to complete immigration procedures before heading to their hotel to rest.

Having just played the second leg of their semifinal against Malaysia on Wednesday evening and then traveled to Thailand the following day, the coaching staff have made player recovery their top priority.

After settling into the hotel, coach Kim gave the entire squad time to rest and relax in order to recharge their energy.

Vietnam will focus on recovery before holding their only training session at Rajamangala Stadium on Friday, a day ahead of the first-leg final against Thailand.