Brunei attends AFF Cup after 26 years

On the afternoon of November 8, Brunei made a guest in front of Timor Leste. With a strong 6-2 victory in the first leg, they actively played defensively.

On the contrary, Timor Leste put up, controlled the ball 64% but scored only one goal in the second half of the first half. Losing 3-6, they missed the opportunity to attend the third AFF Cup in a row. On the Brunei side, many team members burst into tears after the final whistle.

This is the second time that Brunei participates in the Southeast Asian football championship. The first time was in 1996 when the AFF Cup was still named Tiger Cup. At that time, Brunei won a historic 1-0 victory over the Philippines, but in turn lost to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. They were eliminated from the group stage, scoring one and conceding 15 goals.

Brunei is the second smallest country (5,765 km2) and the least population (about 460,000 people) in Southeast Asia. At AFF Cup 2022, they will be in Group A with Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. In the opening match, they played at home on December 20, receiving the reigning champion Thailand.

The AFF Cup 2022 kicks off after the World Cup ends, from December 20, 2022 to January 16, 2023. The tournament returns to the format of each team playing two home matches and two away matches in the group stage. Semi-finals and finals will play the first and second legs. Previously, the AFF Cup 2020 had to be postponed to 2021 before it could be held because of the Covid-19 epidemic, the teams had to compete under the "closed bubble" rule in Singapore.

The AFF Cup was first held in 1996, so far it has gone through 13 periods. Thailand is the most successful team with six championships (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2020). Singapore ranked second with four championships (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012), followed by Vietnam (2008, 2018) and Malaysia (2010).