Identifying the power of the 'Four Great Heroes' at the 2026 ASEAN Cup

In the final matchday of Group B at the 2026 ASEAN Cup, Thailand easily defeated Myanmar 2-0. Meanwhile, Malaysia overcame the Philippines 1-0. With these results, the two tickets to advance from Group B were confirmed. Thailand topped the group with 12 points, while Malaysia finished second with 9 points. Earlier, Vietnam and Singapore were the top two teams from Group A to secure semifinal berths.

Thus, the two semifinal pairings of the 2026 ASEAN Cup will be Vietnam vs. Malaysia and Thailand vs. Singapore.

The semifinal between Vietnam and Malaysia is a rivalry-filled encounter. Vietnam currently holds the upper hand, having won 9 of the last 10 meetings between the two sides. Last year, "The Tigers" defeated Vietnam 4-0 in the first leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. However, FIFA later determined that Malaysia had falsified the naturalization documents of seven players, and subsequently awarded a 3-0 win to Vietnam. In the return leg in March 2026, "The Tigers" lost 1-3 to the team led by coach Kim Sang-sik.

Speaking of memorable encounters between the two teams, one cannot overlook the 2018 AFF Cup, where Vietnam and Malaysia met in the final. Under coach Park Hang-seo, Vietnam overcame their opponents with a 3-2 aggregate score over two legs to claim the Southeast Asian title. At that time, Malaysia was led by coach Tan Cheng Hoe, who is now once again sitting on the sidelines of the national team.

Despite dominating Malaysia in recent head-to-head records, it is noteworthy that in the two previous ASEAN Cup semifinal meetings with the Malaysians, the Golden Star Warriors suffered overall defeats.

In the history of the tournament, Vietnam has reached the ASEAN Cup final five times (in 1998, 2008, 2018, 2022, and 2024), but they have never faced Malaysia in the semifinals.

These statistics make the upcoming clash between Vietnam and Malaysia even more significant and draw the attention of fans.

Malaysian football is in a period of reconstruction after the crisis. The team is now led by veteran coach Tan Cheng Hoe after Peter Cklamovski left the national team. Malaysia still has many naturalized players such as Mohamadou Sumareh, Paulo Josue, Aguero, and Endrick, but they mostly play domestically or in the Thai league. In this tournament, Malaysia's squad has only one naturalized player playing abroad, in the USA: Wan Kuzain.

All four teams in the ASEAN Cup semifinals have previously won the Southeast Asian championship. Among them, Thailand has won it 7 times, Singapore 4 times, Vietnam 3 times, and Malaysia once.

This is the first time in the 30-year history of the tournament (since its inception in 1996) that the semifinals feature all four teams that have ever won the ASEAN Cup or AFF Championship before.

In terms of FIFA rankings, Thailand is ranked 94th in the world, the highest among the four. They are followed by Vietnam (99), Malaysia (136), and Singapore (148).

As the four best teams, there is still a noticeable gap in rankings: Vietnam and Thailand are in the FIFA top 100, while Malaysia and Singapore are outside the top 130.

With their current rankings, Vietnam and Thailand are considered to have an edge over their semifinal opponents.

In Group A, defending champions Vietnam maintained consistent form to top the group with 10 points, while Singapore secured the second spot with 8 points. In Group B, Thailand asserted their dominance with four wins out of four, and Malaysia finished second with 9 points.

The "War Elephants" are the most impressive team, being the only one with a perfect record in the group stage. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Singapore boast unbeaten records.

Coach Kim Sang-sik's team has the best attack so far, scoring 13 goals in 4 matches. Meanwhile, Thailand boasts the tightest defense, having conceded no goals.

The 2026 ASEAN Cup semifinals will kick off with Singapore facing Thailand at Yishun Stadium on August 15. Meanwhile, as defending champions, coach Kim Sang-sik's team will be guests at Kuala Lumpur Stadium against Malaysia on August 16.

In the second leg of the semifinals, Thailand will host Singapore at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on August 18. On August 19, Vietnam will return to My Dinh Stadium to play against Malaysia.