south vietnam national football team

Source: South Vietnam national football team

The Republic of Vietnam national football team (Vietnamese: Đội tuyển bóng đá quốc gia Việt Nam Cộng hòa) was the national association football team from 1947 to 1975 representing the State of Vietnam and later the Republic of Vietnam, commonly known as South Vietnam.
State of Vietnam joined the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) in 1952 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954. The South Vietnamese football association was treated by these bodies as the only legitimate Vietnamese association, as South Vietnam claimed sovereignty over all of Vietnam from 1949 to 1975. The South Vietnam team appeared under French Indochina in 1947, before a Vietnamese government representing it (future South Vietnam) appeared in 1949. After Vietnam gained independence from France and was divided in 1954, it existed side by side with a separate North Vietnam team, which represented the Communist-controlled northern portion of the country from 1956 to 1976. Unlike its southern counterpart, the latter was never allowed to join FIFA or the AFC. South Vietnam took part in the first two Asian Cups finals (1956 and 1960), finishing last both times.
The South Vietnam team played their last games at 1976 AFC Asian Cup qualification in 1975 March, and ceased to exist after the Fall of Saigon on April 30, when the Vietnam War ended. The North and South regions combined into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976, with the Vietnam national team replacing both the North and South teams. The unified republic was allowed to keep South Vietnam's membership of FIFA and the AFC, resulting in the South Vietnam team's historical record usually being counted as part of the overall record of the Vietnam national team, while results for the North Vietnam team are not commonly included as part of the record.