Under-16 to under-20 Nguyễn Quang Hải was called up for the
2012 AFC U-16 Championship qualification at the age of only 14. After an impressive performance in the
2014 AFC U-19 Championship, Quang Hải was called up to the national U-19 side. He went on to represent the U-19 team in the
2014 AFF U-19 Youth Championship and the Bruneian Hassanal Bolkiah Championship, where Vietnam finished as runner-up on both occasions. He made a significant contribution in the
2016 AFC U-19 Championship campaign. In the second game against the United Arab Emirates, he assisted
Hồ Minh Dĩ in Vietnam's opening goal. Vietnam went on to beat host Bahrain in the quarterfinal, thus qualified for the
2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. This was Vietnam's first appearance in a youth FIFA World Cup tournament. He captained the
Vietnam U20 in the
2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup group stage matches against Honduras and France.
Under-23 Quang Hải was first called up to the U23 national team for a friendly against the
Malaysia U23 in February 2017. He was then included in the Vietnam squad for the
2017 Southeast Asian Games. In the decisive game against
Thailand, he was on the bench for the first half, and immediately made an impact in the second one, being fouled by
Ratthanakorn Maikami in the penalty area.
Nguyễn Công Phượng, however, missed the spot-kick as Vietnam lost 3–0 and was eliminated. The appointment of head coach
Park Hang-seo saw a significant improvement in the under-23 team hierarchy, as Quang Hải started becoming untouchable in the team's front 3. He was widely praised as a national hero during the historic
2018 AFC U-23 Championship campaign, as the
Vietnam U23 upset major title contenders en route to their very first continental final. Quang Hải had been instrumental for the team from the group stage, scoring both of the team's 2 goals. The one against
Australia ensured him a
Man of the match award. He also converted his penalty kick during the shootout in the quarterfinal against
Iraq, thus securing Vietnam a spot in the semi-final. Quang Hải's performance against the
Qatar in the semi-final was widely believed to be his most plausible. Quang Hải leveled the score with a low range half-volley in the 69th minute, only for
Almoez Ali to regained Qatar's lead in the 87th. He immediately struck back, beautifully controlled the loose ball following a free-kick, then faking a shot to dribble past through two defenders flamboyantly before placing the shot into the far corner; all happened within a minute from the Almoez Ali's goal. He later missed his own in the penalty-shootout, but Vietnam ended up winning 4–3 and advanced to the final. In the final, Quang Hải once again impressed, equalized the score with a free-kick goal. The goal, nicknamed "rainbow in the snow" by the media, has become a symbol for the unprecedented emotional excitement brought to the Vietnamese people by the historic campaign, as well as the national spirit that goes with it. The goal was later voted as the goal of the tournament. Vietnam, however, lost to the
Uzbekistan in the last minute of extra time. He was widely considered to be one of the best players of the tournament, being inducted into several teams of the tournament by various sources. His ability to score from long range was one of the key technical talking points mentioned by the AFC. There were even aggressive criticisms by the Southeast Asian media towards the AFC for not awarding the
Most Valuable Player to Quang Hải. At the end of the tournament, Quang Hải, along with teammate
Bui Tien Dung, was awarded the 3rd class
Labor Order for his impressive performance. Quang Hải was named into Vietnam’s
Asian Games 2018 lineup. Quang Hải scored one goal in
Vietnam’s 3–0 win over
Pakistan. In a match against
Japan, he scored the only goal of the match as Vietnam defeated Japan to top the Group. Vietnam later went all the way to the semi-finals for the first time in their history at the Asian games, where they were defeated by
South Korea 3–1. Vietnam later lost to the
UAE in a penalty shootout in the Bronze Medal Match. Quang Hải captained and scored one goal for Vietnam in the
2019 Southeast Asian Games in a 6–1 win against
Laos before he was injured in a match against
Singapore and missed the rest of the tournament. However, Vietnam still went on without him to defeat
Indonesia in the final to win the gold medal, their first gold in the SEA games football competition since South Vietnam won in 1959.
Senior national team On 13 June 2017, Quang Hải made his international debut for the Vietnam senior team, against
Jordan, in a match that ended in a 0–0 draw. He scored his first senior goal for Vietnam against
Cambodia on 5 September 2017, coming on as a substitute and scored a late winner. In the
2018 AFF Suzuki Cup Quang Hải played every very minute but 2 as Vietnam won its first Southeast Asian football championship in 10 years. In the first three games of the group stages, he was given a midfield position by head coach Park Hang-seo, which raised the question among the fans. In the last one against Cambodia, he reclaimed a slot in the front 3 and was immediately awarded Man of the match. He played as an advanced
playmaker for the rest of the tournament, being awarded Man of the match twice. The first one was in the semi-final second leg against the
Philippines, where he broke the deadlock and helped secure the first home win in the knockout phase of the
AFF Championship for Vietnam. The last one was clinched as he assisted
Nguyễn Anh Đức the winning goal in the final against the
Malaysia. At the end of the tournament, he was a part of the team of AFF Cup's Best XI, and was chosen as the Most valuable player. He was honorably given the second-class Labor Order by Prime Minister
Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. He won the
Vietnamese Golden Ball few days later, thanks largely to his performance in the AFF Championship. Quang Hải gained international reputation in
2019 AFC Asian Cup when he played an instrumental part on Vietnam's amazing run in the tournament, including a stunning free kick goal against
Yemen as Vietnam won 2–0, and sneaked into the Knockout rounds. Vietnam defeated
Jordan in the Round of 16, but fell short 1–0 to the eventual runners up of the tournament,
Japan in the quarterfinals. Still, Quang Hải was named Man of the Match on both Vietnam's wins in the tournament, and was inducted into the tournament's official all-star squad by the AFC Technical Committee. On 8 November 2019, he defeated
Chanathip Songkrasin of Thailand to win the AFF's Men Player of the year, an award for the best Southeast Asian player in recent two years. Quang Hải scored 3 goals in the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, which helped Vietnam to reach the final round of qualification for the first-time ever. In the first match in the third qualifying round of the World Cup against
Saudi Arabia, it was Quang Hải who fired a long shot from the third minute to help Vietnam take a 1-0 lead, but then the team lost 1-3. Despite their best efforts, Vietnam accepted to be eliminated when they were at the bottom of the table with 4 points. He scored 2 goals in
2020 AFF Championship. But even so, Vietnam was still eliminated before
Thailand in the semi-finals. At the
2022 AFF Cup finals, Quang Hải clearly lost his form after a long time on the bench in
Pau, Vietnam also lost with the total score after two 2-3 matches in the final against Thailand. Quang Hải scored a goal at the
2023 AFC Asian Cup against
Iraq in the final round of the group stage. That goal helped him become the first Vietnamese player to score in two AFC Asian Cup periods. However, Vietnam was eliminated right from the group stage of this tournament. with
Vietnam national football team At the
2024 ASEAN Championship, Quang Hải scored the two goals, in the match to secure a win 1–0 against
Indonesia and a goal to made score 3–0 in a win 5–0 against
Myanmar. This helped Vietnam win the tournament for the third time in history after defeating Thailand in the final. ==Career statistics==