On the evening of August 8, the Thai team completed the group stage with a perfect record. The victory over Myanmar in the final round helped the "War Elephants" win 12 points after 4 matches to enter the semi-finals with the top spot in Group B.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian team won second place with 9 points after 3 wins against Laos, Myanmar, Philippines and a defeat against Thailand.
This result makes the Malaysian team the opponent of the Vietnamese team in the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-finals. Coach Tan Cheng Hoe's team is striving to gain image and form in the Southeast Asian arena after an incident related to illegally naturalized players.
On the Vietnamese team side, the defending champion won the top spot in Group A with 10 points after a 4-match unbeaten streak. Quang Hai and his teammates won against Timor Leste 7-0, Indonesia 3-0, Cambodia 3-1 and drew with Singapore 0-0, scoring 13 goals and conceding only 1 goal.
Before the last group stage match, coach Kim Sang-sik said that he had time to monitor and study the teams in Group B. Therefore, identifying the opponent as Malaysia or Thailand does not make the coaching staff passive. The Korean coach will have his own preparation based on the characteristics of each team.
The Malaysian team is also not a strange opponent, as the two teams just met in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. The Vietnamese team was once defeated 3-0 in the first leg due to the opponent using players against regulations. After that, Xuan Son and his teammates defeated Malaysia with a score of 3-1 in the second leg in March.
According to the schedule, the first leg semi-final of ASEAN Cup 2026 between Malaysia and Vietnam takes place on August 16th at the opponent's stadium. Three days later (August 19th), the two teams will rematch in the second leg semi-final at My Dinh Stadium.
In the remaining semi-final pair, Thailand will meet the second-placed team in Group A, Singapore. The first leg semi-final will take place on August 15 in Singapore and the second leg on August 18 at Thailand's home ground.
