Because of North Vietnam's international isolation, its national team mostly played against other Communist and Communist-sympathizing countries during its relatively short-lived existence.

[2] Although North Vietnamese government was proclaimed in 1945, their first international match was against China in 1956, two years after their existence was recognized.

Their head coach, Truong Tan Buu, played a 3-2-5 (WM) formation but the game ended in a 3–5 defeat.

Their most notorious international participations were in the football tournament of the Games of the New Emerging Forces (GANEFO).

The home kit of North Vietnam was similar to the kit of the Soviet Union consisting of a red shirt, with the legend "VIET NAM DCCH" ("Democratic Republic of Vietnam") across the front in white, white shorts and white-red socks.