AFF Championship

The ASEAN Football Federation Championship, less formally the AFF Championship, is the primary association football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).

AFF Championship
The symbol used since the 2018 Championship
Founded1996 (1996)
RegionAFF (Southeast Asia)
Number of teams10 (finals)
11 (eligible to enter qualification)
Current champions Vietnam (2nd title)
Most successful team(s) Thailand
(5 titles)
Websiteaffsuzukicup.com
2020 AFF Championship
AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 final match first leg between Indonesia and Thailand
Tournaments

A biennial international association football competition, it is contested by the men's national teams of the AFF, determining 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 ongoing COVID-19 pandemic).

Founded as the Tiger Cup after Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries, the makers of Tiger Beer, it sponsored the competition from its inauguration in 1996 until the 2004 edition. After Asia Pacific Breweries withdrew as title sponsors, the competition was known simply as the AFF Championship for the 2007 edition. From 2008, Japanese auto-company Suzuki bought the naming rights for the competition, and the competition has therefore been named the AFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons.

The AFF Championship title have been won by four national teams; Thailand have won five 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 and also in 2014 and 2016, and Singapore in 2004 and 2007. It is one of the most watched football tournaments in the region.

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.

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.[1] 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.

Organisation

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

Between 1996 and 2006, Tiger Beer was the title sponsor. Suzuki has been title sponsor of the tournament since 2008.[2]

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. Hence, semi-finalists are listed in alphabetical order. Moreover, the away goals rule was initially not applied in the earlier tournaments, but only from the 2010 edition.

Starting with the 2018 edition, a new format was applied. The nine highest ranked teams would automatically qualify with 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.[3]

Results
Year Host Final Third place playoff Number of teams
Winners Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1996  Singapore
Thailand		 1–0
Malaysia
Vietnam		 3–2
Indonesia		 10
1998  Vietnam
Singapore		 1–0
Vietnam
Indonesia		 3–3 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p)
Thailand		 8
2000  Thailand
Thailand		 4–1
Indonesia
Malaysia		 3–0
Vietnam		 9
2002  Indonesia
 Singapore
Thailand		 2–2 aet
(4–2) pen
Indonesia
Vietnam		 2–1
Malaysia		 9
Year Group stage hosts Final Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists Number of teams
Winners Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
2004  Malaysia
 Vietnam
Singapore		 3–1
2–1
Indonesia
Malaysia		 2–1
Myanmar		 10
won 5–2 on aggregate
2007  Singapore
 Thailand
Singapore		 2–1
1–1
Thailand		  Malaysia and  Vietnam 8
won 3–2 on aggregate
2008  Indonesia
 Thailand
Vietnam		 2–1
1–1
Thailand		  Indonesia and  Singapore 8
won 3–2 on aggregate
2010  Indonesia
 Vietnam
Malaysia		 3–0
1–2
Indonesia		  Philippines and  Vietnam 8
won 4–2 on aggregate
2012  Malaysia
 Thailand
Singapore		 3–1
0–1
Thailand		  Malaysia and  Philippines 8
won 3–2 on aggregate
2014  Singapore
 Vietnam
Thailand		 2–0
2–3
Malaysia		  Philippines and  Vietnam 8
won 4–3 on aggregate
2016  Myanmar
 Philippines
Thailand		 1–2
2–0
Indonesia		  Myanmar and  Vietnam 8
won 3–2 on aggregate
Year Final Losing semi-finalists Number of teams
Winner Score Runner-up
2018
Vietnam		 2–2
1–0
Malaysia		  Philippines and  Thailand 10
won 3–2 on aggregate
2020  Singapore[lower-alpha 1] 10

Performances by country
Team Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Semi-finalists Total Top 4
 Thailand 5 (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016) 3 (2007, 2008, 2012) – 1 (1998) 1 (2018) 10
 Singapore 4 (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012) – – – 1 (2008) 5
 Vietnam 2 (2008, 2018) 1 (1998) 2 (1996, 2002) 1 (2000) 4 (2007, 2010, 2014, 2016) 10
 Malaysia 1 (2010) 3 (1996, 2014, 2018) 2 (2000, 2004) 1 (2002) 2 (2007, 2012) 9
 Indonesia – 5 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016) 1 (1998) 1 (1996) 1 (2008) 8
 Myanmar – – – 1 (2004) 1 (2016) 2
 Philippines – – – – 4 (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018) 4
Total1212551448

Participating nations
Team
1996
(10)
1998
(8)
2000
(9)

2002
(9)

2004
(10)

2007
(8)

2008
(8)

2010
(8)

2012
(8)

2014
(8)

2016
(8)
2018
(10)
2020
(10)		 Total
 Australia[note 1] Not an AFF member××××0
 Brunei GS•××ו•×••••×1
 Cambodia GS•GSGSGS•GS•••GSGSGS8
 Indonesia 4th3rd2nd2nd2ndGSSF2ndGSGS2ndGSq13
 Laos GSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS•GSGS12
 Malaysia 2ndGS3rd4th3rdSFGS1stSF2ndGS2ndq13
 Myanmar GSGSGSGS4thGSGSGSGSGSSFGSGS13
 Philippines GSGSGSGSGSGS•SFSFSFGSSFGS12
 Singapore GS1stGSGS1st1stSFGS1stGSGSGSq13
 Thailand 1st4th1st1stGS2nd2ndGS2nd1st1stSFq13
 Timor-Leste Part of Indonesia×GS••••••GSGS3
 Vietnam 3rd2nd4th3rdGSSF1stSFGSSFSF1stq13
Legend

Notes
  1. Since joining the AFF in 2013, Australia has never competed in the AFF Championship. Australia has, however, competed in the EAFF Championship in 2013.

Awards
Tournament Most Valuable Player Top Scorer Goals Fair Play
1996
 Zainal Abidin Hassan Natipong Sritong-In 7  Brunei
1998
 Nguyễn Hồng Sơn Myo Hlaing Win 4 Not Awarded
2000
 Kiatisuk Senamuang Gendut Doni Christiawan 5  Malaysia
Worrawoot Srimaka
2002
 Therdsak Chaiman Bambang Pamungkas 8 Not Awarded
2004
 Lionel Lewis Ilham Jaya Kesuma 7
2007
 Noh Alam Shah Noh Alam Shah 10
2008
 Dương Hồng Sơn Budi Sudarsono 4  Thailand
Agu Casmir
Teerasil Dangda
2010
 Firman Utina Safee Sali 5  Philippines
2012
 Shahril Ishak Teerasil Dangda 5  Malaysia
2014
 Chanathip Songkrasin Safiq Rahim 6  Vietnam
2016
 Chanathip Songkrasin Teerasil Dangda 6  Thailand
2018
 Nguyễn Quang Hải Adisak Kraisorn 8  Malaysia

Overall top goalscorers
Rank Player Goals
1 Teerasil Dangda19
2 Noh Alam Shah17
3 Worrawoot Srimaka15
Lê Công Vinh
5 Lê Huỳnh Đức14
6 Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto13
7 Bambang Pamungkas12
Kiatisuk Senamuang
9 Agu Casmir11
10 Khairul Amri10
Adisak Kraisorn
  • Bold denotes players still playing international football

All-time ranking table
As of 2021
Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Best finish
1 Thailand 137346161115989+70154 Champions (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016)
2 Vietnam 136836181414172+69126 Champions (2008, 2018)
3 Indonesia 1365331319166114+52112 Runner-up (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016)
4 Singapore 135931141410955+54107 Champions (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012)
5 Malaysia 136830152311977+42105 Champions (2010)
6 Myanmar 1345157235698-4252 Semi-finalist (2004, 2016)
7 Philippines 124394304448–431 Semi-finalist (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018)
8 Cambodia 82940252998–6912 Group stage (8 times)
9 Laos 1241253430155–12511 Group stage (12 times)
10 Brunei 14103115–143 Group stage (1996)
11 Timor-Leste 3120012650–440 Group stage (2004, 2018, 2021)

See also

Notes
  1. 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.[4]

References
  1. "About AFF". aseanfootball.org.
  2. "Suzuki drives Asean Football Championship to new heights". Singapore: ASEAN Football Federation. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  3. "New format confirmed for AFF Suzuki Cup". Football Channel Asia. 14 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  4. Noronha, Anselm (28 September 2021). "Singapore to host AFF Suzuki Cup 2020: Teams, how to watch & more | Goal.com". Goal.com. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
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