On December 20th, the closing ceremony of SEA Games 33 took place, concluding 11 days of competition among 11 Southeast Asian nations. Highly emotional matches, coupled with countless side stories, propelled SEA Games 33 to the Top 1 Social Hot News, generating 6.44M discussions in just 2 weeks – three times higher than that of SEA Games 32.
*Disclaimer: Within the scope of this article, discussion volume regarding SEA Games was aggregated by YouNet Media’s SocialTrend platform from public posts, comments, and shares on social media. The data measurement period ranges from Dec 8th to Dec 22nd, 2025. Data is updated and processed by AI, with an accuracy rate of approximately 60-70%.
1. SEA Games 33 discussion rises as a phenomenon in just 2 weeks
SEA Games is one of the largest sporting events in Southeast Asia, held biennially. SEA Games 33 (2025) was hosted in Thailand, featuring participation from 11 regional countries across 50 sports and 569 medal events, spanning 11 days of competition from December 9th to December 20th, 2025.
According to Thông tin Chính phủ page, despite ranking 6th out of 11 in terms of total participating athletes, Vietnam finished 3rd in the overall medal tally with 87 gold, 81 silver, and 110 bronze medals, concluding a successful SEA Games for the national team.
Previously, at SEA Games 32 in 2023, Vietnam topped the overall medal tally, attracting over 2.1M discussions (April 14 – May 17, 2023). Building on the support of fans back home, the Vietnam team’s journey at SEA Games 33 continued to be a hot topic on social media platforms. Data from SocialTrend platform records that from December 8th to December 22nd, 2025, SEA Games 33 reached 6.44M discussions and 69.22M interactions – securely holding the Top 1 on Social Hot News.
2. The performance of the U22 Vietnam Team served as a massive boost to the SEA Games 33 buzz
According to YouNet Media’s SocialHeat platform, the heat of SEA Games 33 began to rise on December 10th – the first official day of competition, garnering over 85K discussions. These conversations revolved around the development of opening sports such as taekwondo, swimming, MMA, towing,… and the initial results of Vietnamese athletes on their first day.
On December 17th, the Vietnam Women’s National Team’s regrettable loss of the gold medal to the Philippines caused discussions to skyrocket to 146.54K. The controversial decision to disallow player Bich Thuy’s goal, which led to the defeat, ignited a wave of frustration across the online community.
SEA Games 33 discussions peaked on December 18th with 216.89K discussions, marking the highly anticipated match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Thailand. The majority of the buzz centered on Vietnam’s 3–2 victory and their incredible comeback, as the team rallied to score consecutive goals in the 49th and 61st minutes. The winning goal, set up by player Thanh Nhan in the first extra time, also generated vibrant discussion among fans.
3. Football and Arena of Valor generated the most vibrant buzz at SEA Games 33
According to SocialHeat platform regarding 5 key disciplines – Men’s Football, Arena of Valor, Women’s Football, Athletics, and Swimming: Men’s and Women’s Football combined accounted for over 63.48%, Arena of Valor took 27.33%, Swimming comprised 4.96%, and Athletics made up 4.24% of the total discussions among sports featured at SEA Games 33.
It comes as no surprise that football remained the sport receiving the most widespread attention from netizens during SEA Games 33, securing 570.4K discussions for #1 Men’s Football and 347.89K discussions for #3 Women’s Football. Beyond match results, the eye-catching visuals of the players and viral on-field memes were also topics that generated vibrant buzz among the online community.
Securing the #2 spot, Arena of Valor also demonstrated its powerful appeal, capturing over 27.33% of the discussions regarding SEA Games 33. The attraction of this discipline stemmed primarily from the prestigious gold medals brought home by both the men’s and women’s teams for Vietnam. Additionally, the drama surrounding the cheating allegations against Thai female player Naphat Warasin (Tokyogurl) became a heavily debated topic within the online community.
Furthermore, Athletics and Swimming also attracted significant social media attention during this SEA Games season. Athletics stood out with the ‘medal sweep’ by athlete Nguyen Thi Oanh, while Swimming witnessed the outstanding performance of swimmer Nguyen Quang Thuan – the younger brother of legendary athlete Anh Vien.
In Summary
In just two weeks of competition, SEA Games 33 has demonstrated its significant impact on social media. The remarkable achievements brought home by the Vietnam National Team have ignited a fierce wave of national pride across social platforms. This serves as proof of the growing interest among Vietnamese netizens in sports events, especially during international tournaments that feature intense matchups against neighboring rivals.
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