The Vietnamese national team and the Malaysian national team will reunite in the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-finals. History is clearly leaning towards coach Kim Sang-sik and his team when in the last 18 encounters since 2005, the Vietnamese national team won 14 matches, drew 2 and only lost 2.
In this series of matches, the Vietnamese team scored 33 goals and only conceded 14 goals. If only counting at the ASEAN Cup, the two teams have met 11 times, of which the Vietnamese team won 7, drew 2 and lost 2.
The Malaysian team once created one of the memorable defeats of the Vietnamese team when they won 4-2 in the ASEAN Cup 2014 semi-finals. However, that was also the last time the Malaysian team defeated the Vietnamese team in recognized head-to-head results.
After this defeat, the Vietnamese team successively overcame the Malaysian team at ASEAN Cup 2016, 2018 and 2021. At ASEAN Cup 2018, the Vietnamese team won against Malaysia 2-0 in the group stage and continued to win 1-0 in the second leg final. Three years later, the Vietnamese team won against Malaysia 3-0 at ASEAN Cup 2021.
The Malaysian team once caused a surprise when defeating the Vietnamese team with a score of 4-0 in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. However, this result was later cancelled. FIFA determined that the Malaysian team used 7 players who did not meet the playing conditions related to the naturalization dossier and ruled that the Malaysian team lost 0-3.
In the second leg in March 2026, the Malaysian team continued to lose 1-3 to the Vietnamese team. As a result, the Vietnamese team is on a 4-match winning streak against this opponent, scoring 9 goals and not conceding.
However, past statistics cannot determine the result of the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-finals. Malaysia still shows competitiveness when winning 9 points after 4 group stage matches, with victories against Myanmar, Laos and Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese team finished the group stage at the top of Group A and achieved an unbeaten record. The difference in head-to-head history brings a certain psychological advantage, but the Vietnamese team must still be cautious against a Malaysian team that is preparing for the semi-finals.
The Malaysian team will host the Vietnamese team in the first leg of the semi-finals on August 16. The two teams will play the second leg at My Dinh Stadium on August 19.
