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| The 2024 ASEAN Championship -- which kicks off on Dec. 8 -- will see familiar foes Malaysia and Singapore renew their traditional rivalry, with both drawn in Group A alongside defending champions Thailand, Cambodia and Timor-Leste. Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images |
On Tuesday, the lineup for the 2024 ASEAN Championship was set in stone.
With Timor-Leste securing a 1-0 aggregate triumph over Brunei Darussalam in the qualifying playoff, the ten teams that will contest Southeast Asia's premier international tournament at the end of the year has now been finalised.
Timor-Leste will slot into Group A, which is headlined by defending champions and record seven-time winners Thailand, while also consisting of Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.
Meanwhile, Group B is looking equally competitive with Indonesia and Vietnam -- the only two teams from the region to have reached the third stage of the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup in the two most-recent editions -- leading the way, along with Philippines, Myanmar and Laos.
With the qualifying playoff coinciding with the recent international break, it means that all ten contenders were in action in their penultimate window to finalise preparations before the tournament kicks off on Dec. 8.
Here, we assess where each team stands at the moment with less than two months to go to kickoff.
CAMBODIA
After parting ways with Felix Dalmas last month, Cambodia played their first matches under Koji Gyotoku this past week -- a 3-2 win over Chinese Taipei followed by a 3-0 loss to Hong Kong.
Gyotoku, whose official title is "interim head coach" is no stranger to Cambodian football having been involved in the national youth setup since 2019, taking charge of the U-17, U-21 and U-23 teams at various stages.
In the win over Chinese Taipei, Min Ratanak and Sieng Chanthea provided the goals as the 22-year-olds continue to grow in influence in the team.
INDONESIA
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| Indonesia continue to give a good account of themselves in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup but suffered a first defeat on Tuesday with a 2-1 loss to China. Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images |
As Southeast Asia's sole representatives in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, Indonesia were the only team -- other than Timor-Leste and Brunei -- to experience competitive action this window.
They continued their run of creditable results last Thursday although they were aggrieved over a late equaliser that saw Bahrain force a 2-2 draw, before suffering a first defeat of the campaign after being beaten 2-1 by China on Tuesday.
Indonesia continue to boosted by the constant influx of Europe-born players of local heritage, with Eredivisie duo Mees Hilgers and Eliano Reijnders the latest to make their international bows.
Although Merah Putih continue to give an excellent account of themselves against some of Asia's powerhouses, it remains to be seen how many of their overseas-based contingent will be available for the ASEAN Championship - which does not fall during an official FIFA international window.
It could leave coach Shin Tae-Yong needing to revert to his Indonesian born-and-bred players, who have served him so well in leading the team's initial resurgence when he arrived.
LAOS
Since being eliminated by Nepal in the first round of the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, Laos have not played an official match -- a span which has now reached an entire year.
They are among the teams that have made a recent coaching change, with Ha Hyeok-Jun only appointed in August and tasked with both the senior and U-23 teams.
Laos spent the recent international break on a training camp in Thailand and changing of the guard could be on the cards, with 16 of the 30 players involved uncapped and only two -- Bounphachan Bounkong and Phoutthasay Khochalern -- boasting more than 20 international appearances to their names.
MALAYSIA
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| Malaysia's 4-0 loss to New Zealand -- captained by Premier League stalwart Chris Wood -- had the silver lining of a first senior cap for Selangor centre-back Harith Haiqal. DJ MILLS/AFP via Getty Images |
Malaysia played just one friendly this window -- a 4-0 loss to New Zealand that was hardly an embarrassing result considering the opponents had a notable number of Europe-based players at their disposal, including Premier League stalwart Chris Wood and Serie A man Liberato Cacace.
It did prompt coach Pau Marti -- who was thrusted into the role following the abrupt departure of Kim Pan-Gon -- to apologise for the result, although it must be remembered that his first two games at the helm last month included an impressive 1-0 triumph over Lebanon.
Marti did use the opportunity to hand a first cap to Selangor defender Harith Haiqal, and -- for now -- will have one final friendly to finetune his tactics for the ASEAN Championship when Harimau Malaya play India on Nov. 19.
MYANMAR
Myanmar's latest exploits saw them take on Sri Lanka in back-to-back home matches - which resulted in a 2-0 win and a 0-0 draw.
It was perhaps not the sternest of opposition as, even with Myanmar's lowly FIFA world ranking of 167th, Sri Lanka sit 33 places blow are the second lowest-ranked team in all of Asia - and the 11th-lowest in the world out of 210 teams in the classification.
Myanmar will get a better test of their credentials in November when they meet Singapore on Nov. 15. They were originally meant to face Lebanon four days later, although it remains to be seen if the latter will be available after they had to cancel their commitments this window.
PHILIPPINES
After a 3-0 loss to Thailand, Philippines bounced back to finish third in the King's Cup with a 3-0 victory over Tajikistan -- an impressive result considering the opposition had made a remarkable run to the quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup at the start of the year.
It marked new coach Albert Capellas' first matches in charge, after his predecessor Tom Saintfiet left the job just six months after being appointed.
Recent overseas-born additions during the short-lived Saintfiet era in Bjørn Martin Kristensen and Zico Bailey both netted their first international goals, while Bundesliga man Gerrit Holtmann was also on target.
Still, Holtmann is unlikely to be available for the ASEAN Championship - as could be the case with Philippines' nine other Europe-based players, which includes five of the six listed forwards in their latest squad.
SINGAPORE
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| Singapore tested themselves against formidable opposition in the form of five-time J1 League champions Yokohama F. Marinos -- who fielded a starting XI entirely comprising players involved in the first team setup. Football Association of Singapore |
For the second consecutive window, Singapore did not play any international friendlies but instead focused on centralised training -- this time in Japan, where they took on three J1 League clubs in practice matches.
A 2-1 victory over Tokyo Verdy was sandwiched by 4-0 and 7-1 losses to FC Tokyo and Yokohama F. Marinos respectively, but it is worth mentioning that all three clubs fielded teams with considerable first-team experience.
In particular, five-time J1 League champions Marinos had a starting XI which boasted ex-Japan internationals Kota Mizunuma and Kazuya Yamamura, as well as Brazilian import Eduardo, while Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura opted to use this clash to blood a plethora of young prospects.
The Lions will finally get some international exposure next month when they entertain Myanmar and Chinese Taipei on Nov. 15 and 19 respectively.
THAILAND
In the landmark 50th edition of the King's Cup, Thailand did disappoint as they won their own annual friendly tournament for the first time since 2017 with an impressive 2-1 win over Syria.
Before the decider, they had beaten Philippines 3-1 in the semifinals as Suphanat Mueanta -- with a brace -- continued his hot run of form with four goals in three international outings before he was kept at bay by the Syrians.
Talismanic playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin also netted in both matches, while there was a first cap for rising Muangthong United star Kakana Khamyok, who started against Philippines.
It is believed that the reigning ASEAN champions will finish their tournament warm-up with friendlies against Lebanon and Yemen in November.
TIMOR-LESTE
The only team featuring at the ASEAN Championship that had to earn this place at the tournament, Timor-Leste's quest began well as they beat Brunei 1-0 in the first leg courtesy of a Gali Freitas winner.
Although they were unable to do the same in the return encounter, a 0-0 draw was still enough to secure a return to the competition after they surprisingly missed out in 2022.
VIETNAM
Vietnam's planned preparations for this window were hampered by Lebanon's withdrawal from a triangular tournament due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
It meant they had just one game to play -- a 1-1 draw with India which saw captain Que Ngoc Hai denied from the penalty spot, although there was a first senior goal for 21-year-old Bùi Vĩ Hào -- one of their standouts at this year's AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
After winning his first game in charge - a 3-2 win World Cup qualifying win over Philippines on June 6 which ended an eight-match losing streak, Kim Sang-Sik is now on his own mini-poor run of form with three losses and a draw from Vietnam's past four outings.
- Gabriel Tan
