The ASEAN Championship (formerly known as the AFF Championship or the AFF Cup), currently known as the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the biennial football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for men's national teams in Southeast Asia.
A biennial international competition, it is contested 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.
Four national teams have won the ASEAN Championship title; Thailand has won seven titles, Singapore four, Vietnam three, and Malaysia one. To date, Thailand and Singapore are the only teams to have won consecutive titles. Thailand did it three times: in 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2020, and 2022, while Singapore did it once in 2004 and 2007. Australia, an AFF member outside Southeast Asia, has not played the ASEAN Championship due to the initial agreement. It is one of the most watched football tournaments in the region. The ASEAN Championship has also been recognized as an official tournament by FIFA since 7 December 2024, having previously been recognized as a Category A tournament since 2016.[1][2][3]
The first ASEAN Championship took place in 1996 with the six founding members of the ASEAN Federation competing with four nations being invited that came in that region. The final saw Thailand becoming the first champions of ASEAN as they defeated Malaysia 1–0 in Singapore.[4] 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. The tournament has been the only regional competition for national teams since men's football at the SEA Games was for U23 in 2001. No country has 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.
Although having joined the AFF on 27 August 2013, Australia, a member outside Southeast Asia, has not played the ASEAN Championship as part of the initial agreement, though Australia has started searching for ways to enter the tournament in recent years due to growth of various Southeast Asian national teams, due to internal pressures, and due to Southeast Asian interests in seeing more competitive football to improve consistency.[5][6][7]
Organisation
Sports marketing, media, and event management firm, Sportfive (formerly Lagardère Sports) has been involved in the tournament since the inaugural edition in 1996.[citation needed]
Title sponsorship
It was founded as the Tiger Cup, after Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries brand Tiger Beer sponsored the competition from its 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.[8] 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.[9]
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.
Since 2004, the knockout stage has been played over two legs in 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 the knockout stage since the 2010 edition. [a]
Starting with the 2018 edition, a new format was applied. The nine highest-ranked teams qualified automatically while the 10th and 11th ranked teams played in a two-legged qualifier to determine the final team to qualify. The 10 teams were split into two groups of five and played 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.[10]
Indonesia (2004), Thailand (2008), and Vietnam (2000, 2018, 2020, and 2022) did not concede a single goal in their group-stage campaigns in the indicated years
↑ Except the 2020 edition due to all matches being hosted in the centralized venue, Singapore.
↑ The 2020 AFF Championship was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and hosted in a centralized venue. On 28 September 2021, it was announced that Singapore would host the tournament.[11] Knockout stage had been kept playing over two legs without away goal rule.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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.[12][13] The sanctions took effect in October 2021.[14] Thailand is represented by its national team logo while Indonesia is represented by its coat of arms.
↑ "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).
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Vietnam (3rd title)
Thailand (7 titles)
