AFF_Championship

ASEAN Championship

ASEAN Championship

Southeast Asian association football tournament for men's national teams

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.

Quick Facts Organising body, Founded ...

A biennial international competition, it is contested by the men's national teams of the AFF 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 (which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). It was felt that a close co-operation at the football level would improve the quality of sport across the region and make it more competitive at the Asian and world level.

The ASEAN Championship title has been won by four national teams; Thailand have won seven titles, Singapore has four titles, Vietnam has two titles and Malaysia with one title. To date, Thailand and Singapore are the only teams in history 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, the champions of East Asia, to determine the champions of East and Southeast 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

The first ASEAN Championship took place in 1996 with the six founding members of ASEAN Federation competing with four nations being invited that came in that region. The final saw Thailand become 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

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

Title sponsorship

Founded as the Tiger Cup after Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries brand Tiger Beer, it sponsored the competition from the competition's 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.

More information Period, Sponsor ...

Format

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.[lower-alpha 1]

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

More information Year, Host ...

Performances by country

More information Team, Champions ...

Participating nations

More information Team, 1996 (10) ...
Legend

Notes

    Awards

    More information Tournament, Most valuable player ...

    Winning coaches

    More information Year, Winning coaches ...
    Notes
    1. being the only person to win the competition as a player (1996, 2000, 2002) then coach (2014, 2016).

    All-time ranking table

    As of the 2022 edition
    More information Rank, Team ...

    Records and statistics

    All time top goalscorers

    As of 2022 final
    More information Rank, Player ...
    1. Bold denotes players still playing international football

    Other statistics

    See also: List of AFF Championship hat-tricks
    • 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

    Consecutive championships

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

    Biggest wins

    Most successful coach

    Most successful player

    Most goals scored in a single tournament

    Most goals scored in a match

    Most tournaments scored in

    First ever hat-trick

    Fastest hat-trick

    Youngest player

    Youngest goal scorer

    Oldest player

    Oldest goal scorer

    See also

    Notes

    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]
    4. 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

    1. [1]
      Isu Mata FIFA Ranking Dalam Sejarah Kejohanan Piala AFF (in Malay) - Football Tribe, 13 November 2016.
    2. [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. [3]
      "About AFF". aseanfootball.org. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
    4. [4]
      "Global News News.2008". Global Suzuki. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
    5. [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. [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. [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. [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. [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. [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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