# 2020 AFF Championship

The 2020 AFF Championship (officially AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the 7th and the last edition under the name AFF Suzuki Cup.
The final tournament was originally scheduled to run from 23 November to 31 December 2020. However, the tournament was postponed and rescheduled at least twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tournament was first rescheduled to run from 11 April to 8 May 2021 and the schedule later pushed backed further to 5 December 2021 to 1 January 2022. Singapore was chosen as host of the tournament in a centralised location.
Vietnam were the defending champions, but were eliminated by their rivals, Thailand in the semi-finals. Thailand won the tournament by a 6–2 victory in the two-legged final against Indonesia to secure their sixth title.

## Format

The AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 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. Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam also expressed interest in hosting the tournament.
In the group stage of the competition proper, ten teams were drawn in two groups of five with single round-robin format. The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals.
The organizers preferred to hold the tournament under its original format, which featured two-leg home-and-away games. Away goals rule was not applied for this tournament.
Up to five substitutions may be allowed as per recommendation of FIFA.

## Qualification

Nine teams automatically qualified to the AFF Championship final tournament; they were separated into their respective pots based on their performance of the last two editions. Brunei and Timor-Leste who were the two lowest-performing teams were supposed to play a match where the winner will secure a spot to the final tournament but Brunei withdrew citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia applied to attend the 2020 AFF Championship but was rejected by the AFF.
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.

### Qualified teams

| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Cambodia | 8th | Group Stage (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2018) |
| Indonesia | 13th | Runners-up (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016) |
| Laos | 12th | Group Stage (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018) |
| Malaysia | 13th | Winners (2010) |
| Myanmar | 13th | Fourth place / Semi-finalists (2004, 2016) |
| Philippines | 12th | Semi-finalists (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018) |
| Singapore | 13th | Winners (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012) |
| Thailand | 13th | Winners (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016) |
| East Timor | 3rd | Group Stage (2004, 2018) |
| Vietnam | 13th | Winners (2008, 2018) |

#### Notes

* 1 2 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. The sanctions took effect in October 2021. Thailand is represented by its national team logo while Indonesia is represented by its coat of arms.

## Draw

The draw for the 2020 AFF Championship was originally set to be held on 10 August 2021 in Singapore but due to the enhanced COVID-19 restrictions in the country, the draw was postponed. The draw was done virtually and held on 21 September 2021. The pot placements followed each teams progress in the previous two editions.
At the time of the draw, the identity of the national team that secured qualification was unknown, as it was supposed to be contested between Brunei and Timor Leste. Timor Leste qualified to the group stage after the withdrawal of Brunei from the qualification play-off.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | Pot 5 |
| Vietnam (2018 holders) Thailand | Malaysia Myanmar | Philippines Indonesia | Singapore Cambodia | Laos East Timor (Qualification round winner) |

## Squads

Each team were allowed a preliminary squad of 50 players. A final squad of 30 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) 23 players registered for each match.

## Officials

The following officials were chosen for the competition.
Referees
* Ammar Ebrahim Mahfoodh
* Ahmed Faisal Al-Ali
* Ahmad Yaqoub Ibrahim
* Kim Dae-yong
* Kim Hee-gon
* Nazmi Nasaruddin
* Qasim Al-Hatmi
* Yaqoob Abdul Baki
* Saoud Ali Al-Adba
* Shukri Al-Hunfush
* Mohammed Al-Hoaish
* Ahmad A'Qashah
Assistant referees
* Salman Ebrahim
* Nurhadi Sulchan
* Ahmand Mansour Samara Muhsen
* Hamzah Adel Abu-Obaid
* Park Kyun-yong
* Kang Dong-ho
* Saif Talib Al-Ghafri
* Abu Bakar Al-Amri
* Zahy Snaid Al-Shammari
* Jasem Abdulla Yousef
* Faisal Nasser Al-Qahtani
* Rawut Nakarit

## Venues

Singapore :
| KallangBishanclass=notpageimage| Location of stadiums of the 2020 AFF Championship | Kallang | Bishan |
| KallangBishanclass=notpageimage| Location of stadiums of the 2020 AFF Championship | National Stadium | Bishan Stadium |
| KallangBishanclass=notpageimage| Location of stadiums of the 2020 AFF Championship | Capacity: 55,000 | Capacity: 6,254 |

## Group stage
### Tiebreakers

Ranking in each group shall be determined as follows:
* Greater number of points obtained in all the group matches;
* Goal difference in all the group matches;
* Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches.
If two or more teams are equal on the basis on the above three criteria, the place shall be determined as follows:
* Result of the direct match between the teams concerned;
* Penalty shoot-out if only the teams are tied, and they met in the last round of the group;
* Drawing lots by the Organising Committee.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Thailand | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 12 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 2 | Singapore (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 9 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 3 | Philippines | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 6 | |
| 4 | Myanmar | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 3 | |
| 5 | East Timor | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Indonesia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 10 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 2 | Vietnam | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 10 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 3 | Malaysia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4 | Cambodia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 3 | |
| 5 | Laos | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 14 | −13 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| A2 | Singapore | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | |
| B1 | Indonesia (a.e.t.) | 1 | 4 | 5 | | | | | |
| B1 | Indonesia (a.e.t.) | 1 | 4 | 5 | B1 | Indonesia | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | | | | | A1 | Thailand | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| B2 | Vietnam | 0 | 0 | 0 | A1 | Thailand | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| A1 | Thailand | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | |

### Semi-finals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Singapore | 3–5 | Indonesia | 1–1 | 2–4 (a.e.t.) |
| Vietnam | 0–2 | Thailand | 0–2 | 0–0 |

#### Second leg

Indonesia won 5–3 on aggregate.
Thailand won 2–0 on aggregate.

### Final

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Indonesia | 2–6 | Thailand | 0–4 | 2–2 |

#### Second leg

Thailand won 6–2 on aggregate.

## Statistics
### Winner

* 2020 AFF Championship
* Thailand 6th title

### Awards

| Most Valuable Player | Young Player of the Tournament | Top Scorer Award | Fair Play Award |
| Chanathip Songkrasin | Pratama Arhan | Safawi Rasid Bienvenido Marañón Chanathip Songkrasin Teerasil Dangda | Indonesia |

### Goalscorers

There were 88 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 3.38 goals per match.
4 goals
* Safawi Rasid
* Bienvenido Marañón
* Chanathip Songkrasin
* Teerasil Dangda
3 goals
* Irfan Jaya
* Ikhsan Fandi
* Supachok Sarachat
2 goals
* Chan Vathanaka
* Evan Dimas
* Egy Maulana Vikri
* Ezra Walian
* Pratama Arhan
* Rachmat Irianto
* Witan Sulaeman
* Kogileswaran Raj
* Htet Phyo Wai
* Amin Nazari
* Patrick Reichelt
* Nguyễn Công Phượng
* Nguyễn Quang Hải
* Nguyễn Tiến Linh
1 goal
* Prak Mony Udom
* Sath Rosib
* Sieng Chanthea
* Yue Safy
* Asnawi Mangkualam
* Elkan Baggott
* Ramai Rumakiek
* Ricky Kambuaya
* Kydavone Souvanny
* Akhyar Rashid
* Shahrul Saad
* Maung Maung Lwin
* Than Paing
* Ángel Guirado
* Kevin Ingreso
* Jesper Nyholm
* Martin Steuble
* Adam Swandi
* Faris Ramli
* Hariss Harun
* Safuwan Baharudin
* Shahdan Sulaiman
* Shakir Hamzah
* Song Ui-young
* Adisak Kraisorn
* Bordin Phala
* Elias Dolah
* Pathompol Charoenrattanapirom
* Sarach Yooyen
* Supachai Chaided
* Worachit Kanitsribampen
* Bùi Tiến Dũng
* Nguyễn Hoàng Đức
* Phan Văn Đức
1 own goal
* Shawal Anuar (playing against Indonesia)
Source: AFF

### Discipline

In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches.
| Player | Offences | Suspensions |
| Ken Chansopheak | in Group B v Malaysia in Group B v Vietnam | Team already eliminated from tournament |
| Ramai Rumakiek | in Group B v Cambodia in Group B v Malaysia | Semi-finals 1st-leg v Singapore |
| Pratama Arhan | in Semi-finals 1st-leg v Singapore in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v Singapore | Finals 1st-leg v Thailand |
| Aphixay Thanakhanty | in Group B v Malaysia in Group B v Indonesia | Group B v Cambodia |
| Nyein Chan | in Group A v Singapore in Group A v Philippines | Team already eliminated from tournament |
| Stephan Schröck | in Group A v Singapore in Group A v Thailand | Group A v Myanmar |
| Martin Steuble | in Group A v Thailand in Group A v Myanmar | Team already eliminated from tournament |
| Safuwan Baharudin | in Semi-finals 1st-leg v Indonesia in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v Indonesia | Team already eliminated from tournament |
| Irfan Fandi | in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v Indonesia | Team already eliminated from tournament |
| Hassan Sunny | in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v Indonesia | Team already eliminated from tournament |
| Theerathon Bunmathan | in Semi-finals 1st leg v Vietnam in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v Vietnam | Finals 1st-leg v Indonesia |
In addition, 4 Indonesian players (Elkan Baggott, Victor Igbonefo, Rizky Ridho and Rizky Dwi Febrianto) were barred from the 2nd leg of the Indonesia-Thailand Final on 1 January 2022 for breaching COVID-19 safety measures by leaving the team hotel without authorisation.

### Tournament teams ranking

This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | Thailand | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 3 | +15 | 20 | Champion |
| 2 | Indonesia | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 15 | Runner-up |
| 3 | Vietnam | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 11 | Semi-final |
| 4 | Singapore | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 10 | Semi-final |
| 5 | Philippines | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 6 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 6 | Malaysia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 6 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 7 | Cambodia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 8 | Myanmar | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 9 | Laos | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 14 | −13 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | East Timor | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |

## Marketing
### Matchballs

The official ball for AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 is the ASEAN PULSE, which is sponsored by Warrix.

### Sponsorship

| Title sponsor | Official sponsors | Official supporters |
| Suzuki | Oppo Bioré G-Shock Midea Yanmar | Acecook Coocaa Fuji Electric Herbalife Nutrition Jinro Mitsubishi Electric Pinaco TMGM |

## Media coverage

2020 AFF Championship television broadcasters in Southeast Asia :
| Country | Broadcast network | Television | Radio | Streaming |
| Brunei | RTB | RTB Aneka | — | — |
| Cambodia | Smart Axiata | Hang Meas HDTV | | |
| Indonesia | MNC Media, Emtek | RCTI (Indonesian matches only), iNews (FTA), Champions TV [id] (Pay) | | RCTI+ [id], Vision+, Vidio |
| Laos | Next Media | | | |
| Malaysia | Astro, RTM | Astro Arena, Sukan RTM | | |
| Myanmar | Next Media | | | |
| Philippines | TAP DMV | Premier Sport (Pay) | | TAP Go |
| Singapore | Mediacorp | | | meWATCH |
| Thailand | BBTV | CH7 | | Bugaboo, AIS Play |
| East Timor | RTTL | TVTL | | |
| Vietnam | VTV, Next Media | VTV5, VTV6 | On 365 FM | TV360, VTVcab ON, FPT Play |
| 2020 AFF Championship international television broadcasters |||||
| International | YouTube | | | AFF Suzuki Cup (unsold markets only) |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Cable Television | | — | |
| South Korea | Seoul Broadcasting System | SBS, SBS Sports (Indonesian and Vietnamese matches only) | — | |