Tales from the 211

Exploring the weird and wonderful world of football across FIFA's 211 member nations - and beyond

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LEVERKUSEN LOOKALIKES LEAD THE WAY IN VIETNAM

It is rare in football for a promoted club to become champions of their country. Before this season, the last team to achieve such a feat in Europe was Ararat-Armenia, who were only founded in 2017 but immediately gained promotion from the second tier and claimed the Armenian title the following campaign. But 2025 appears to be a golden year for newcomers across the continent: Thun, Wisla Plock and Valletta are making waves in Switzerland, Poland and Malta respectively, while ML Vitebsk are closing in on the title in Belarus.

LEVERKUSEN LOOKALIKES LEAD THE WAY IN VIETNAM

The phenomenon extends to Africa and CONCACAF too, with promoted Scottland and US Sinnamary already crowned champions of Zimbabwe and French Guiana respectively. In Asia, meanwhile, new boys Ninh Binh FC sit atop the table in Vietnam at the time of writing, with over a third of the season played. Founded in Hanoi in 2015 and sponsored by LPBank, a retail bank, Ninh Binh ascended to the V. League 1 for the first time in the summer.