VOV World reported the Hai Phong recognition after the university’s August 21 event, while Pearson’s winner list independently confirms both Chi’s title and the category. The result is more specific than the broad “Excel world champion” label suggests. This was one of six distinct MOS World Championship titles, split across Word, Excel and PowerPoint, with separate tracks for perpetual Office 2019 and subscription-based Microsoft 365 Apps.
For Windows and Microsoft 365 users, that distinction is the useful part of the news. Chi did not win a general spreadsheet-showcase event; she won a certification-centered contest designed around the current Microsoft 365 Apps version of Excel, in a field evaluated through a new exam and project submitted during the final.
A Microsoft 365 Apps title, not an all-purpose Excel contest
The Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship is often described as a global office-computing competition, but its format is considerably narrower and more practical than that wording implies. It is a student competition operated by Pearson’s Certiport division and built around Microsoft Office Specialist certification tracks. The 2026 finals had six world titles:
- Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint each had an Office 2019 division.
- Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint each had a Microsoft 365 Apps division.
Pearson named Nguyen Mai Chi first in the Microsoft Excel (Microsoft 365 Apps) division, followed by Poland’s Aleksy Jakub Dobrodziej and Hong Kong’s Hoi Kiu Cheng. Another competitor, Zhong Tin Kin of Macao, China, took the separate Excel Office 2019 crown.
That separation matters for anyone reading the win as a measure of Excel proficiency. The Microsoft 365 Apps edition is the continually serviced desktop suite used by many organizations under Microsoft 365 licensing, while Office 2019 is a fixed-version release. They share core Excel concepts, but they are not interchangeable product tracks, and the championship does not collapse the results into a single Excel ranking.
It also should not be confused with the Financial Modeling World Cup or the separately branded Microsoft Excel World Championship events that circulate widely online. Those competitions are typically associated with formula puzzles, financial modeling or esports-style spreadsheet challenges. MOSWC is a Microsoft Office Specialist certification competition with its own eligibility rules, task format and judging process.
Pearson’s record resolves the date mismatch
The submitted VOV World report says the MOS and Adobe Certified Professional award ceremony was held in the United States on July 30. Pearson’s official rules and winner announcement place the awards ceremony in Anaheim on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, with the competition running from July 26 through July 29.
There is no substantive conflict once time zones are accounted for. Hai Phong authorities reported that the ceremony occurred shortly after midnight on July 30 in Vietnam. Anaheim was 14 hours behind Vietnam at the time, meaning a late-evening July 29 ceremony in California was already early July 30 in Hai Phong.
VnExpress also reported the win as occurring in California on July 29 and identified Chi as a Vietnam Maritime University student. The outlet said she finished ahead of Dobrodziej, consistent with Pearson’s published podium, and reported that Vietnam sent six finalists to Anaheim.
The chronology is worth correcting because the venue and date are part of the verifiable record: the final and awards ceremony were held in Anaheim, California, on July 29 local time, corresponding to July 30 in Vietnam. VOV World’s article is accurate in its Vietnamese-time framing but does not spell out the time-zone difference.
What competitors were actually judged on
The MOS final is not merely a repeat of the certification test contestants used to qualify. Pearson’s 2026 rules say finalists were instructed to take an exam and submit a project using the relevant Office application on Pearson-provided computers. Certiport’s championship FAQ says the final assessment is newly created, may include an exam portion, a project portion or both, and can test advanced material beyond a standard certification exam.
Pearson further states that judges evaluate the combined submission and award the highest-scoring entry in each track. If finalists tie, the quickest completion of the applicable exam component breaks the tie.
That design makes the title more meaningful than a high score from an unsupervised practice test, but it also limits what can be inferred from it. Pearson keeps the assessment brief, project assets and related competition materials confidential; its rules prohibit competitors and attendees from disclosing them even after the event. There is therefore no public task list showing whether Chi’s winning project required advanced formula construction, data modeling, PivotTable analysis, automation, charting, auditing, collaboration features or other particular Excel skills.
The result establishes that Chi’s submission achieved the highest combined score in that specific Microsoft 365 Apps Excel final. It does not provide a public benchmark for a particular function set, a measure of workplace productivity across every Excel workflow, or a comparative test of Excel against AI-assisted spreadsheet tools.
The field was global, but the pipeline was certification-led
Pearson says the Anaheim final brought together 135 finalists aged 13 through 22 from 36 countries and territories. Each had qualified through a national route after passing an eligible Word, Excel or PowerPoint certification exam and winning the relevant country competition.
VnExpress reported that nearly 1,500 students from 185 Vietnamese school and university teams entered Vietnam’s 2026 process, with 150 reaching the national final, citing IIG Vietnam, the national competition operator. That makes the local university tribute more than a ceremonial footnote: Chi emerged from a multi-stage selection system rather than appearing directly at the global event.
Vietnam’s delegation had broader success in Anaheim. Pearson’s winner list shows Nguyen Dinh Bao placed third in Microsoft PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Apps), while Do Le Tuan Kiet took third in Microsoft Excel (Office 2019). VnExpress reported the same results and said Vietnamese competitors also reached ninth and 10th place in two other tracks.
The local reporting calls Chi’s gold Vietnam’s highest result at MOSWC 2026. Pearson’s complete podium list supports that characterization: she was the delegation’s only first-place MOS winner, while the other two Vietnamese medals were third-place finishes.
Why the win still matters to Microsoft 365 administrators
The immediate operational consequence for enterprise IT is modest: the championship does not announce a new Excel feature, change a Microsoft 365 Apps support policy or alter the MOS certification curriculum. But it does reinforce a practical point that is easy to lose amid the current emphasis on Copilot and automation: Excel competence remains a distinct skill that can be assessed under time constraints.
Microsoft’s Jeana Jorgensen, corporate vice president for Global Skilling, described the competition as an example of how technical ability and certification can open workforce opportunities. That is vendor messaging, but the structure of the contest gives it a concrete foundation. Finalists work in designated application tracks, complete a supplied assessment and project, and face a score-based judging process rather than merely displaying a completion badge.
For IT training teams, the important caution is that a MOS credential and a MOSWC result should not be treated as universal proof of job readiness. The final tests advanced Excel skill in a tightly controlled student competition, while production Excel work often depends on organizational models, governed data sources, audit requirements, version control, Power Query or Power Pivot design, macros, permissions and collaboration policies that do not appear in public MOSWC materials.
Still, the competition’s Microsoft 365 Apps division offers a clearer signal than generic claims of “digital skills.” Chi’s victory demonstrates success with the modern, subscription-serviced Excel product line in a project-based final, and Pearson’s rules confirm that the winning entry had to outperform every other finalist in that specific track.
Hai Phong’s honor therefore recognizes a documented international title, not a local publicity claim. The practical takeaway is equally concrete: the Microsoft 365 Apps Excel crown went to Nguyen Mai Chi of Vietnam Maritime University, with the final decided in Anaheim on July 29 local time and the result independently published by Pearson.