On the evening of 24/7 at Chonburi Stadium in Thailand, Dinh Bac scored a hat-trick and provided an assist. This marked his debut at the ASEAN Cup, having missed the 2024 edition due to injury.

Dinh Bac opened his account in the 31st minute with a right-footed curl into the bottom corner, putting Vietnam up 2-0. In the 43rd minute, after receiving a through ball from captain Nguyen Quang Hai, Dinh Bac advanced into the penalty area and scored with a precise finish, extending the lead to 4-0. The 2004-born forward completed his hat-trick in the 65th minute with a tap-in from a pass by Bui Hoang Viet Anh. In the 79th minute, he assisted Quang Hai, setting up a one-touch shot inside the box to seal the 7-0 victory.

Dinh Bac celebrates his goal, which made the score 2-0, during the 7-0 victory against Timor Leste in their ASEAN Cup 2026 Group A opener, at Chonburi Stadium, Thailand on 24/7. *Photo: Duc Dong*

Sofascore, a leading global statistics firm founded in 2010 with tens of millions of users, awarded Dinh Bac a perfect 10, naming him man of the match. Naturalized Brazilian midfielder Do Hoang Hen ranked second with an 8,8 rating after scoring two goals in his official debut for Vietnam. Nguyen Xuan Son, who scored Vietnam's remaining goal in the match, received a 7,4 rating, equal to Quang Hai.

Dinh Bac is only the second Vietnamese player to receive a perfect 10 rating in an official match, following Xuan Son's performance in Vietnam's 5-0 victory over Myanmar during the ASEAN Cup 2024 group stage. In that match, the Brazilian-born forward Xuan Son scored two goals and provided two assists. By contributing to four goals, Xuan Son and Dinh Bac are the second and third Vietnamese players, respectively, to achieve this milestone since Phan Thanh Binh against Laos in 2007.

Against Timor Leste, Dinh Bac played as a left forward. He took 7 shots, with four on target and three goals. The Nghe An-born forward had 67 touches during the match, completing three successful dribbles. He made 43 passes with a 93% accuracy rate, 34 of which were in the opponent's half.

This was Dinh Bac's second consecutive goal for the national team, following a successful penalty that sealed a 4-0 friendly victory against Myanmar on 18/7. The forward has now scored 6 goals in 15 appearances for the national team.

Since 4/4, when he scored two goals to help Cong an Ha Noi defeat Da Nang 5-1 in V-League 2025-2026, Dinh Bac has recorded 14 goals and three assists in 10 matches across all competitions.

The 7-0 scoreline also marks Vietnam's largest winning margin under coach Kim Sang-sik. Previously, the national team had two 5-0 victories: one against Myanmar in the ASEAN Cup 2024 group stage and another against Laos in the Asian Cup 2027 final qualifiers.

This victory places Vietnam at the top of ASEAN Cup 2026 Group A after the first round of matches. The national team has three points, identical to Singapore, but holds a superior goal difference after Singapore's hard-fought 2-1 win over Cambodia.

Vietnam will rest on 27/7, the second match day. Other fixtures on this day include Singapore versus Timor Leste and Indonesia hosting Cambodia. Coach Kim's team will next face Singapore at My Dinh Stadium on 31/7.

Hieu Luong