According to Thai newspapers, ASEAN Cup was once considered the most prestigious tournament of Southeast Asian football about a decade ago, attracting great attention from fans as well as the media. However, the heat of the tournament is said to have decreased significantly in recent years.
The articles cited the fact that the number of Thai reporters working at the opening match of this country's team at ASEAN Cup 2026 was significantly less than in previous tournaments. At the same time, the atmosphere on social networking platforms after Thailand's victory was also assessed as more quiet.
The commentary argues that one of the reasons why the ASEAN Cup is less attractive is that the schedule is not suitable for the FIFA Days system. This makes clubs not obligated to release players to the national team, affecting the quality of the force of many teams.
In addition, the fact that teams may have to play up to 8 matches in a tournament is also considered to create great physical pressure on players, and at the same time cause difficulties for clubs in the process of managing personnel.
In the opposite direction, the FIFA ASEAN Cup is assessed to have many new points such as competing according to the FIFA Days schedule, helping teams more conveniently summon forces. In addition, the tournament also applies a promotion and relegation mechanism, expanding the participants with guest teams outside of Southeast Asia and bringing more accumulated points on the FIFA rankings.
The above view continues to prolong the debates over the past time about the future of the two tournaments in the region, especially when the FIFA ASEAN Cup was born with the orientation of becoming a new competition system for national teams.
According to the plan, the first season of the FIFA ASEAN Cup will take place from September 21 to October 6 with the participation of Southeast Asian teams and some guest teams from Asia such as India, Pakistan and Hong Kong (China).
