Coach Tan Cheng Hoe is haunted by the history of his encounters with Malaysia, who suffered complete defeats against the Vietnamese national team.

The FIFA ASEAN Cup third-place match is like a final for both Vietnam and Malaysia.

"I myself have long wanted to defeat the Vietnamese team and achieve a positive result, because we haven't beaten them in over 11 years. We know their strength lies not only in their attack. They have also added naturalized players to their defense," coach Tan Cheng Hoe shared with Malaysian media before the FIFA ASEAN Cup third-place match against Vietnam at 4 PM on October 5th.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

The last time the Malaysian national team defeated the Vietnamese national team was in 2014, when coach Dollah Salleh's team caused a major surprise with a 4-2 victory at My Dinh Stadium in the second leg of the semi-final of the Southeast Asian Championship (ASEAN Cup). That victory propelled Malaysia into the final with an aggregate score of 5-4 after two legs.

However, since then, the Malaysian team has been unable to replicate this achievement; they have lost all nine of their most recent encounters against the Vietnamese team, after a 2-2 draw in 2018.

In their last five matches since 2022, Malaysia has lost every time, including a 0-3 defeat handed down by FIFA and AFC due to the use of seven illegally naturalized players. In total, across the history of encounters from 1991 to 2026, the Malaysian national team has only won 5 matches, drawn 3, and lost 19 against Vietnam.

Coach Tan Cheng Hoe also shared that the desire for the Malaysian team to defeat the Vietnamese team has long been a major goal, but he also acknowledged the challenges awaiting his players.

"The Vietnamese national team has always been strengthened over time. Their discipline and solid playing style in both attack and defense have always been maintained. Therefore, defeating them will be extremely difficult. We must be highly focused and prepare as best as possible. The players need to recover both physically and mentally, because the Vietnamese team will also enter the match with similar thorough preparation," emphasized coach Tan Cheng Hoe.

Photo: Minh Hoang

Meanwhile, on the Vietnamese side, coach Kim Sang-sik also mentioned their opponent Malaysia in the press conference after their 4-2 victory over Pakistan on October 2nd.

The South Korean coach shared: "On the Malaysian side, they have made many changes to their lineup. However, that doesn't affect us at all, as we will only focus on preparing for the upcoming matches. Although this is our fourth match, it's only the third-place playoff, so we will approach it as if we were playing in the final."

The race for points in the FIFA rankings.

This is considered the second race in the FIFA ASEAN Cup, with all matches in the tournament contributing to high ranking points. Therefore, every result directly affects the teams' rankings. For the Vietnamese national team, making every effort to win against Malaysia is almost mandatory to secure a position in the top 100 in the world .

Photo: Ngoc Linh

The Vietnamese national team is currently ranked 99th in the world according to the real-time FIFA rankings as of October 4th. Coach Kim Sang-sik's team remains second in Southeast Asia, behind Thailand (ranked 93rd in the world). In Asia, Vietnam is ranked 17th, while Thailand is ranked 14th.

For the Vietnamese national team, a victory against Malaysia would add 3.67 points to their current FIFA ranking (1,237.62 points as of October 4th). A win would also ensure that coach Kim Sang-sik's team remains in the top 100 in the world. They could even climb to 98th place, surpassing Mozambique (who have already finished their matches).

In the event of a draw after 90 minutes of regulation time and a loss in the penalty shootout, the Vietnamese team will have 3.83 points deducted. A loss in 90 minutes of regulation time will result in a deduction of 6.33 points. If the Vietnamese team draws in 90 minutes but wins the penalty shootout, 1.33 points will be deducted.

Therefore, this is a very important match, and the Vietnamese team must play as if it were a final, just as coach Kim Sang-sik said.