# 2018 AFF Championship final

The 2018 AFF Championship final was the final of the 2018 AFF Championship, the 12th edition of the top-level Southeast Asia football tournament organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
The final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Malaysia and Vietnam. The first leg was hosted by Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on 11 December 2018, while the second leg was hosted by Vietnam at the Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Hanoi on 15 December 2018.
Vietnam secured their second title after defeating Malaysia by a 3–2 aggregate score in the two-legged final.

## Background

Based on previous records, Malaysia had reached the AFF Championship final three times (1996, 2010 and 2014) while Vietnam had reached the AFF Championship final two times (1998 and 2008). The two sides last met on 23 November 2016 in the group stage of the previous 2016 AFF Championship. Based on the latest rankings released by FIFA World Rankings on 29 November 2018, Malaysia was ranked 167 while Vietnam ranked 100. Both teams had already won their first trophy of the tournament, with Vietnam winning in 2008 and Malaysia in 2010.

## Route to the final

Both Malaysia and Vietnam were drawn into Group A of the 2018 AFF Championship. After winning three and drawing one in group matches, Vietnam finished first in the group. Malaysia finished second in the group to progress to the knockout phase of the tournament. Vietnam's first match victory was against Laos with a score of 3–0. From there, they continue the path by beating Malaysia by 2–0 and drawing 0–0 with Myanmar before defeating Cambodia by 3–0. Vietnam progressed to the semi-finals to face Group B runner-up of the Philippines. In the first-leg in Bacolod, Vietnam won 2–1 before winning the second-leg in Hanoi by another similar scores of 2–1 with total aggregate of 4–2. Malaysia's won their first match against Cambodia by 1–0 before beating Laos by 3–1. Despite losing to Vietnam by 0–2, they managed to qualify to semi-finals after beating Myanmar by 3–0. In the semi-finals, Malaysia face Group B winner as well the defending champion of the tournament of Thailand. In the first-leg in Kuala Lumpur, they drew 0–0 before drawing 2–2 in the second-leg in Bangkok with a similar total aggregate of 2–2, qualifying through the away goals rule.
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
| Malaysia | Malaysia | Malaysia | Malaysia | Round | Vietnam | Vietnam | Vietnam | Vietnam |
| Opponent | Result | Result | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | Result | Result |
| Cambodia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | Match 1 | Laos | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Laos | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | Match 2 | Malaysia | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Vietnam | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | Match 3 | Myanmar | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Myanmar | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | Match 4 | Cambodia | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Group A runners-up Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 | Group A runners-up Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 | Group A runners-up Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 | Group A runners-up Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 | Final standings | Group A winners Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 | Group A winners Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 | Group A winners Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 | Group A winners Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Vietnam 431080+810  Malaysia 430173+49  Myanmar 421175+27  Cambodia 410349−53  Laos 4004312−90 |
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout phase | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Thailand | 2–2 (a) | 0–0 (H) | 2–2 (A) | Semi-finals | Philippines | 4–2 | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (H) |

### First leg

| Malaysia | Vietnam |
| GK | 1 | Farizal Marlias |
| RB | 2 | Amirul Azhan | | 60' |
| CB | 17 | Irfan Zakaria |
| CB | 3 | Shahrul Saad |
| LB | 21 | Nazirul Naim | 28' | 41' |
| RM | 13 | Mohamadou Sumareh |
| CM | 14 | Syamer Kutty Abba | 62' |
| CM | 12 | Akram Mahinan |
| LM | 11 | Safawi Rasid |
| SS | 9 | Norshahrul Idlan Talaha | | 71' |
| CF | 8 | Zaquan Adha Radzak (c) | 38' |
| Substitutions: ||
| DF | 5 | Adam Nor Azlin | 53' | 41' |
| FW | 18 | Syafiq Ahmad | 65' | 60' |
| MF | 19 | Akhyar Rashid | | 71' |
| Manager: ||
| Tan Cheng Hoe ||
| GK | 23 | Đặng Văn Lâm |
| CB | 3 | Quế Ngọc Hải (c) |
| CB | 21 | Trần Đình Trọng | 90+2' |
| CB | 28 | Đỗ Duy Mạnh | 17' |
| RM | 8 | Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng |
| CM | 15 | Phạm Đức Huy | | 76' |
| CM | 29 | Nguyễn Huy Hùng |
| LM | 5 | Đoàn Văn Hậu | 59' |
| RW | 19 | Nguyễn Quang Hải |
| LW | 20 | Phan Văn Đức | | 86' |
| CF | 13 | Hà Đức Chinh | | 53' |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 22 | Nguyễn Tiến Linh | | 53' |
| FW | 14 | Nguyễn Công Phượng | | 76' |
| MF | 16 | Đỗ Hùng Dũng | | 86' |
| Manager: ||
| Park Hang-seo ||
* Man of the Match:
* Safawi Rasid (Malaysia)
* Assistant referees:
* Ronnie Koh Min Kiat (Singapore)
* Bambang Syamsudar (Indonesia)
* Fourth official:
* Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

### Second leg

| Vietnam | Malaysia |
| GK | 23 | Đặng Văn Lâm | 9' |
| CB | 28 | Đỗ Duy Mạnh | 53' |
| CB | 21 | Trần Đình Trọng | 19' |
| CB | 3 | Quế Ngọc Hải (c) |
| RWB | 8 | Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng | 16' |
| LWB | 5 | Đoàn Văn Hậu | 53' |
| CM | 29 | Nguyễn Huy Hùng | 29' |
| CM | 16 | Đỗ Hùng Dũng | | 90+3' |
| RW | 19 | Nguyễn Quang Hải |
| LW | 20 | Phan Văn Đức | | 71' |
| CF | 11 | Nguyễn Anh Đức | | 81' |
| Substitutions: ||
| DF | 12 | Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy | | 71' |
| FW | 13 | Hà Đức Chinh | | 81' |
| MF | 6 | Lương Xuân Trường | | 90+3' |
| Manager: ||
| Park Hang-seo ||
| GK | 1 | Farizal Marlias |
| RB | 4 | Syahmi Safari |
| CB | 7 | Aidil Zafuan Radzak | 9' | 76' |
| CB | 3 | Shahrul Saad | 36' 90+5' |
| LB | 6 | Syazwan Andik |
| RM | 11 | Safawi Rasid | | 83' |
| CM | 14 | Syamer Kutty Abba | 40' |
| CM | 12 | Akram Mahinan | | 85' |
| LM | 13 | Mohamadou Sumareh |
| SS | 9 | Norshahrul Idlan Talaha |
| CF | 8 | Zaquan Adha Radzak (c) | 80' |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 18 | Syafiq Ahmad | 79' | 76' |
| MF | 19 | Akhyar Rashid | | 83' |
| FW | 10 | Shahrel Fikri | | 85' |
| Manager: ||
| Tan Cheng Hoe ||
* Man of the Match:
* Nguyễn Quang Hải (Vietnam)
* Assistant referees:
* Reza Ebrahim Sokhandan (Iran)
* Reza Mansouri (Iran)
* Fourth official:
* Jansen Foo (Singapore)