The senior national teams of Malaysia and Vietnam faced off again in the spotlight. On March 31, 2026, Vietnam defeated Malaysia 3-1 in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, reinforcing their 10-year dominance over Malaysia: in 10 meetings, Vietnam recorded 9 wins and 1 draw.
Earlier, in the first leg of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, Malaysia had actually beaten Vietnam 4-0. However, FIFA and the AFC later overturned the result due to document forgery involving 7 naturalized Malaysian players, awarding a 3-0 walkover win to Vietnam.
This extended Vietnam’s unbeaten streak against Malaysia since 2016, while Malaysia’s last win over Vietnam came back in 2014 during the AFF Cup, winning 4-2. From 2016 to the present, Vietnam has consistently dominated, with 9 wins and 1 draw.
Malaysia also failed to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup, finishing as runner-up with 3 losses: two against Vietnam and one against Nepal. The fallout from the naturalization scandal further affected Malaysia’s FIFA ranking, dropping 17 spots to 138, while the Philippines overtook them to enter the Southeast Asia Big Four, pushing Malaysia down to 5th in the region.
Malaysia has certainly faced relentless challenges. Hopefully, the federation and team can learn from this, make the right decisions, and improve national football. For the loyal fans, stay strong, recover quickly, Malaysia!
