M'sia ends 12-year drought with win over Vietnam

Malaysia made history by defeating Vietnam in the third-place playoff of the 2026 Fifa Asean Cup in Jakarta this afternoon.

This marks the national team’s first victory over their higher-ranked rivals in 12 years.

Malaysia is placed 136th in the Fifa world rankings, while Vietnam sits significantly higher at 99th.

Harimau Malaya’s sole goal was scored by young national forward Fergus Tierney, who plays in the Cypriot top flight.

Tierney found the net in the 62nd minute, shortly after coming on to replace Bergson da Silva - the newly naturalised striker who drew a blank today.

Remarkably, Malaysia played without two key mainstays.

Dion Cools returned home early due to a family matter following the team’s 6-0 thrashing of Singapore, while star forward Arif Aiman Hanapi was left out of interim coach Tan Cheng Ho’s tactical setup today.

Possession was nearly even throughout the match, with Malaysia holding 49 percent to Vietnam’s 51 percent.

Today’s victory leaves Malaysia as the only team to maintain a clean sheet throughout the tournament, held for the first time this year with Indonesia as the host.

Malaysia posted an impressive run, defeating Bangladesh (3-0) and Singapore (6-0), while holding the host nation to a 0-0 draw.

The final will take place tonight between Indonesia and Thailand.

Earlier, the tournament sparked controversy when Indonesia were granted extended stoppage time from two to seven minutes - a move critics called a “scandal” that allowed the host nation to score more goals.

Malaysia and Indonesia are tied on points, which means the champion will be decided by goal difference.

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