The ASEAN Championship (formerly known as the AFF Championship), currently known as the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the primary football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for men's football national teams in the Southeast Asia.

ASEAN Championship
Organising bodyAFF
Founded1996; 28 years ago (1996)
RegionSoutheast Asia
Number of teams10 (finals)
12 (eligible to enter qualification)
Current championsThailand Thailand (7th title)
Most successful team(s)Thailand Thailand (7 titles)
Websiteaseanutdfc.com
2024 ASEAN Championship

A biennial international competition, it is contested to determine the sub-continental champion of Southeast Asia. The competition has been held every two years since 1996, scheduled to be in the even-numbered year, except for 2007, and 2020.

The ASEAN Championship title has been won by four national teams; Thailand has won seven titles, Singapore four, Vietnam two, and Malaysia one. To date, Thailand and Singapore are the only teams to have won consecutive titles; Thailand in 2000 and 2002, 2014 and 2016 and also 2020 and 2022, and Singapore in 2004 and 2007. It is one of the most watched football tournaments in the region. The ASEAN Championship is also recognized as an "A" international tournament by FIFA with FIFA ranking points being awarded since 1996.[1]

Since 2018, the championship winners would compete in the following AFF–EAFF Champions Trophy, against the winner of the EAFF E-1 Football Championship (East Asia). Although having joined the AFF on 27 August 2013, Australia has not played the ASEAN Championship as part of the initial agreement.[2]

History

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The first ASEAN Championship took place in 1996 with the six founding members of the ASEAN Federation competing with four nations being invited that came in that region. The final saw Thailand becoming the first champions of ASEAN as they defeated Malaysia 1–0 in Singapore.[3] The top four nations automatically qualified through to the finals in the following edition. This meant the other six nations had to compete in qualifying for the remaining four spots. Myanmar, Singapore, Laos and Philippines all made it through to the main tournament. No country have ever won the AFF Championship title three times in a row. Singapore (2004 and 2007) and Thailand (2000 and 2002 and again in 2014 and 2016) have won twice in a row.

Organisation

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Sports marketing, media and event management firm, Sportfive (formerly Lagardère Sports) has been involved in the tournament since the inaugural edition in 1996.[citation needed]

Title sponsorship

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It was founded as the Tiger Cup, after Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries brand Tiger Beer sponsored the competition from its inauguration in 1996, until the 2004 edition. After Asia Pacific Breweries withdrew as title sponsor, the competition was known simply as the AFF Championship for the 2007 edition. In 2008, Japanese auto-company Suzuki bought the naming rights for the competition, and the competition was named the AFF Suzuki Cup until the 2020 edition.[4] On 23 May 2022, AFF announced a new title sponsorship deal with Japanese company Mitsubishi Electric and the competition was named the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup starting in the 2022 edition.[5]

On 29 February 2024, AFF and Mitsubishi Electric, who is the title partner of the championship, launched a new logo and brand identity for the event. As part of the rebranding, the region’s premier competition formerly known as the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup, was also renamed to the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

Period Sponsor Name
1996–2004 Tiger Beer Tiger Cup
2007 No title sponsor AFF Championship
2008–2020 Suzuki AFF Suzuki Cup
2022 Mitsubishi Electric AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup
2024– ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup

Format

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From 2004, the knockout stage is played over two legs on a home-and-away format. Since the 2007 edition, there was no third place match; semi-finalists are listed in alphabetical order. The away goals rule has been applied for knockout stage since the 2010 edition.[a]

Starting with the 2018 edition, a new format was applied. The nine highest ranked teams qualified automatically while the 10th and 11th ranked teams playing in a two-legged qualifier. The 10 teams were split in two groups of five and play a round robin system, with each team playing two home and two away fixtures. A draw was made to determine where the teams play while the format of the knockout round remained unchanged.[6]

Results

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Regular format (1996 - 2002)
Year Host Final Third place playoff Number of teams Total matches played Total goals in tournament
Winners Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1996   Singapore  
Thailand
1–0  
Malaysia
 
Vietnam
3–2  
Indonesia
10 24 93
1998   Vietnam  
Singapore
1–0  
Vietnam
 
Indonesia
3–3 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p)
 
Thailand
8 16 55
2000   Thailand  
Thailand
4–1  
Indonesia
 
Malaysia
3–0  
Vietnam
9 20 67
2002   Indonesia
  Singapore
 
Thailand
2–2 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 p)
 
Indonesia
 
Vietnam
2–1  
Malaysia
9 20 92
Format with home-and-away in knockout (2004 - 2016)
Year Group stage hosts Final Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists Number of teams Total matches played Total goals in tournament
Winners Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
2004   Malaysia
  Vietnam
 
Singapore
3–1
2–1
 
Indonesia
 
Malaysia
2–1  
Myanmar
10 27 113
won 5–2 on aggregate
2007   Singapore
  Thailand
 
Singapore
2–1
1–1
 
Thailand
  Malaysia and   Vietnam 8 18 50
won 3–2 on aggregate
2008   Indonesia
  Thailand
 
Vietnam
2–1
1–1
 
Thailand
  Indonesia and   Singapore 8 18 56
won 3–2 on aggregate
2010   Indonesia
  Vietnam
 
Malaysia
3–0
1–2
 
Indonesia
  Philippines and   Vietnam 8 18 51
won 4–2 on aggregate
2012   Malaysia
  Thailand
 
Singapore
3–1
0–1
 
Thailand
  Malaysia and   Philippines 8 18 48
won 3–2 on aggregate
2014   Singapore
  Vietnam
 
Thailand
2–0
2–3
 
Malaysia
  Philippines and   Vietnam 8 18 65
won 4–3 on aggregate
2016   Myanmar
  Philippines
 
Thailand
1–2
2–0
 
Indonesia
  Myanmar and   Vietnam 8 18 50
won 3–2 on aggregate
Format with home-and-away whole tournament (2018 - present)
Year Final Losing semi-finalists Number of teams Total matches played Total goals in tournament
Winners Score Runners-up
2018  
Vietnam
2–2
1–0
 
Malaysia
  Philippines and   Thailand 10 26 80
won 3–2 on aggregate
2020[b][c]  
Thailand
[d]
4–0
2–2
 
Indonesia[d]
  Singapore and   Vietnam 10 26 88
won 6–2 on aggregate
2022  
Thailand
2–2
1–0
 
Vietnam
  Indonesia and   Malaysia 10 26 90
won 3–2 on aggregate
2024 10 26

Performances by country

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Team Champions Runners-up
  Thailand 7 (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022) 3 (2007, 2008, 2012)
  Singapore 4 (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012)
  Vietnam 2 (2008, 2018) 2 (1998, 2022)
  Malaysia 1 (2010) 3 (1996, 2014, 2018)
  Indonesia 6 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016, 2020)
Total 14 14

Participating nations

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Team  
1996
(10)
 
1998
(8)
 
2000
(9)
 
 
2002
(9)
 
 
2004
(10)
 
 
2007
(8)
 
 
2008
(8)
 
 
2010
(8)
 
 
2012
(8)
 
 
2014
(8)
 
 
2016
(8)
 
2018
(10)
 
2020
(10)
 
2022
(10)
 
2024
(10)
Total
  Australia Not an AFF member × × × × × × 0
  Brunei GS × × × × × GS 2
  Cambodia GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS Q 10
  East Timor Part of Indonesia × GS GS GS Q 4
  Indonesia 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd GS SF 2nd GS GS 2nd GS 2nd SF Q 15
  Laos GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS GS Q 14
  Malaysia 2nd GS 3rd 4th 3rd SF GS 1st SF 2nd GS 2nd GS SF Q 15
  Myanmar GS GS GS GS 4th GS GS GS GS GS SF GS GS GS Q 15
  Philippines GS GS GS GS GS GS SF SF SF GS SF GS GS Q 14
  Singapore GS 1st GS GS 1st 1st SF GS 1st GS GS GS SF GS Q 15
  Thailand 1st 4th 1st 1st GS 2nd 2nd GS 2nd 1st 1st SF 1st 1st Q 15
  Vietnam 3rd 2nd 4th 3rd GS SF 1st SF GS SF SF 1st SF 2nd Q 15
Legend

Notes

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Awards

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Tournament Most valuable player Top goalscorer(s) Goals Young player of the tournament Fair play award
1996   Zainal Abidin Hassan   Natipong Sritong-In 7 Not awarded   Brunei
1998   Nguyễn Hồng Sơn   Myo Hlaing Win 4 Not awarded
2000   Kiatisuk Senamuang   Gendut Doni Christiawan
  Worrawoot Srimaka
5   Malaysia
2002   Therdsak Chaiman   Bambang Pamungkas 8 Not awarded
2004   Lionel Lewis   Ilham Jaya Kesuma 7
2007   Noh Alam Shah   Noh Alam Shah 10
2008   Dương Hồng Sơn   Budi Sudarsono
  Agu Casmir
  Teerasil Dangda
4   Thailand
2010   Firman Utina   Safee Sali 5   Philippines
2012   Shahril Ishak   Teerasil Dangda 5   Malaysia
2014   Chanathip Songkrasin   Safiq Rahim 6   Vietnam
2016   Chanathip Songkrasin   Teerasil Dangda 6   Thailand
2018   Nguyễn Quang Hải   Adisak Kraisorn 8   Malaysia
2020   Chanathip Songkrasin[d]   Safawi Rasid
  Bienvenido Marañón
  Chanathip Songkrasin[d]
  Teerasil Dangda[d]
4   Pratama Arhan[d]   Indonesia[d]
2022   Theerathon Bunmathan   Teerasil Dangda
  Nguyễn Tiến Linh
6   Marselino Ferdinan   Malaysia

Winning coaches

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AFF Championship-winning coaches
Year Winning coaches National team
1996   Thawatchai Sartjakul   Thailand
1998   Barry Whitbread   Singapore
2000   Peter Withe   Thailand
2002   Peter Withe (2)   Thailand
2004   Radojko Avramović   Singapore
2007   Radojko Avramović (2)   Singapore
2008   Henrique Calisto   Vietnam
2010   K. Rajagopal   Malaysia
2012   Radojko Avramović (3)   Singapore
2014   Kiatisuk Senamuang[A]   Thailand
2016   Kiatisuk Senamuang (2)   Thailand
2018   Park Hang-seo   Vietnam
2020   Alexandré Pölking   Thailand[d]
2022   Alexandré Pölking (2)   Thailand
Notes
  1. ^ being the only person to win the competition as a player (1996, 2000, 2002) then coach (2014, 2016).

All-time ranking table

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As of the 2022 edition
Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Best finish
1   Thailand 14 85 54 21 10 195 68 +127 183 Champions (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022)
2   Vietnam 14 79 41 22 16 161 77 +84 145 Champions (2008, 2018)
3   Indonesia 14 76 37 18 21 182 107 +75 129 Runners-up (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016, 2020)
4   Malaysia 14 75 34 15 26 129 88 +41 117 Champions (2010)
5   Singapore 14 66 33 16 17 118 68 +50 115 Champions (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012)
6   Myanmar 14 52 15 11 26 78 110 –32 56 Semi-finalists (2004, 2016)
7   Philippines 13 53 11 9 33 55 115 –60 42 Semi-finalists (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018)
8   Cambodia 9 34 6 0 28 39 110 –71 18 Group stage (9 times)
9   Laos 13 45 2 6 37 32 170 –138 12 Group stage (13 times)
10   Brunei 2 8 1 0 7 3 37 –34 3 Group stage (1996, 2022)
11   East Timor 3 12 0 0 12 6 50 –44 0 Group stage (2004, 2018, 2020)

Records and statistics

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All time top goalscorers

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As of 2022 final
Rank Player Goals
1   Teerasil Dangda 25
2   Noh Alam Shah 17
3   Worrawoot Srimaka 15
  Lê Công Vinh
5   Lê Huỳnh Đức 14
6   Adisak Kraisorn 13
  Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto
8   Bambang Pamungkas 12
  Kiatisuk Senamuang
10   Agu Casmir 11
11   Khairul Amri 10
  1. Bold denotes players still playing international football

Other statistics

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  • Indonesia (2004), Thailand (2008) and Vietnam (2022) did not concede a single goal in their group stage campaigns in the indicated years
  • The 2002 AFF Championship Final is still the only final to have been settled on penalties

Most titles

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Consecutive championships

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  •   Thailand – 3 (2000 and 2002, 2014 and 2016, 2020 and 2022)
  •   Singapore – 1 (2004 and 2007)

Biggest wins

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Most successful coach

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Most successful player

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Most goals scored in a single tournament

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Most goals scored in a match

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Most tournaments scored in

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First ever hat-trick

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Fastest hat-trick

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Youngest player

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Youngest goal scorer

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Oldest player

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Oldest goal scorer

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Marketing

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Official Match Ball through the years
Year Official match ball name Manufacturer
1996 Adidas Questra Adidas
1998 Adidas Tricolore Adidas
2000 Adidas Tricolore Adidas
2002 Adidas Fevernova Adidas
2004 Adidas Roteiro Adidas
2007 Nike Total 90 Aerow II (Yellow winter) Nike
2008 Nike Total 90 Omni (Yellow winter) Nike
2010 Nike Total 90 Tracer (Yellow winter) Nike
2012 Nike Maxim (Yellow winter) Nike
2014 Mitre Delta V12S Mitre
2016 Mitre Delta Fluo Hyperseam (Yellow winter) Mitre
2018 Grand Sport Primero Mundo X Star Grand Sport
2020 Warrix Asean Pulse Warrix
2022 Warrix Bersatu Warrix
2024 Adidas Tiro Pro Adidas
Current sponsorship
Title Partner Presenting Partner Official Supplier Official Supporters

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Except the 2020 edition due to all matches being hosted in centralized venue, Singapore.
  2. ^ Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. ^ The 2020 AFF Championship was hosted in a centralized venue due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia. On 28 September 2021, it was announced that Singapore would host the tournament.[7] Knockout stage had been kept playing over two legs without away goal rule.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Due to non-compliance with conditions set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Thailand and Indonesia were not allowed to be represented by their national flags.[8][9] The sanctions took effect in October 2021.[10] Thailand is represented by its national team logo while Indonesia is represented by its coat of arms.

References

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  1. ^ Isu Mata FIFA Ranking Dalam Sejarah Kejohanan Piala AFF (in Malay) - Football Tribe, 13 November 2016.
  2. ^ Bossi, Dominic (31 January 2019). "Socceroos seeking entrance into 2020 Suzuki Cup". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  3. ^ "About AFF". aseanfootball.org. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Global News News.2008". Global Suzuki. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  5. ^ "AFF Announces Mitsubishi Electric As The New Title Sponsor Of AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022". www.affmitsubishielectriccup.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  6. ^ "New format for AFF Suzuki Cup 2018". AFF – The Official Website Of The Asean Football Federation. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  7. ^ Noronha, Anselm (28 September 2021). "Singapore to host AFF Suzuki Cup 2020: Teams, how to watch & more". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Thailand loses right to host tournaments". Bangkok Post. Bangkok Post Public Co. Ltd. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2021. The country has also been denied the right to display its national flag at any such events (international football events).
  9. ^ "Chairman Of PSSI: Regarding The Flag At AFF 2020, We Will Follow Whatever The Decision Is". VOI – Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan. 24 November 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  10. ^ "WADA confirms non-compliance of five Anti-Doping Organizations (7 October 2021)". World Anti-Doping Agency. 7 October 2021. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
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