# 1998 AFF Championship

The 1998 AFF Championship, officially known as the 1998 Tiger Cup, was the second edition of the AFF Championship. It was held in Vietnam from 26 August to 5 September 1998.
Thailand had been the defending champions, but lost to Vietnam in the semi-finals.
The unfancied Singapore national team won the tournament by a 1–0 victory against Vietnam in the finals to take their first title.

## Qualification

Four teams qualified directly to the finals.
* Indonesia (1996 fourth placed)
* Malaysia (1996 runner-up)
* Thailand (defending champions)
* Vietnam (Hosts, Third Placed)
Four teams qualified via the qualification process.
* Myanmar (Winner Qualification Group A)
* Singapore (Winner Qualification Group B)
* Laos (Runner-up Qualification Group A)
* Philippines (Runner-up Qualification Group B)

## Venues

Vietnam :
| Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi |
| Hanoi Stadium | Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi |
| Capacity: 22,500 | Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi |
| Ho Chi Minh City | Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi |
| Thống Nhất Stadium | Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi |
| Capacity: 15,000 | Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi |

## Final tournament

* All times are UTC+7.

### Group stage

* Key to colours in group tables
* Top two placed teams advanced to the semi-finals

#### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Thailand | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 7 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 6 |
| Myanmar | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 4 |
| Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 0 |

#### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Singapore | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 |
| Vietnam | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 |
| Malaysia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 1 |
| Laos | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 1 |

### Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 2 September – Hanoi | 2 September – Hanoi |
| Vietnam | 3 |
| Vietnam | 3 | 5 September – Hanoi | 5 September – Hanoi |
| Thailand | 0 | 5 September – Hanoi | 5 September – Hanoi |
| Thailand | 0 | Vietnam | 0 |
| 3 September – Ho Chi Minh City | 3 September – Ho Chi Minh City | | Vietnam | 0 |
| 3 September – Ho Chi Minh City | 3 September – Ho Chi Minh City | Singapore | 1 |
| Singapore | 2 | Singapore | 1 |
| Indonesia | 1 | | |
| Indonesia | 1 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 5 September – Ho Chi Minh City | 5 September – Ho Chi Minh City |
| | | Thailand | 3 (4) |
| | | Indonesia (p) | 3 (5) |

#### Final
## Award

* 1998 AFF Championship
* Singapore First title
| Most Valuable Player | Golden Boot |
| Nguyễn Hồng Sơn | Myo Hlaing Win |

## Goalscorers
### 4 goals

* Myo Hlaing Win

### 3 goals

* Aji Santoso
* Miro Baldo Bento
* Aung Khine
* Alfredo Razon Gonzalez
* Ahmad Latiff Khamaruddin
* Worrawoot Srimaka
* Nguyễn Hồng Sơn

### 2 goals

* Bima Sakti
* Widodo Cahyono Putro
* Rafi Ali
* Kritsada Piandit
* Lê Huỳnh Đức

### 1 goal

* Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto
* Uston Nawawi
* Yusuf Ekodono
* Keolakhone Channiphone
* Kholadeth Phonephachanh
* Win Htike
* Nazri Nasir
* Rudy Khairon Daiman
* R. Sasikumar
* Zulkarnaen Zainal
* Chaichan Kiewsen
* Kairung Threjagsang
* Kovid Foythong
* Therdsak Chaiman
* Nguyễn Văn Sỹ
* Trương Việt Hoàng
* Văn Sỹ Hùng

### 1 own goal

* Mursyid Effendi (playing against Thailand)
* Min Aung (playing against Indonesia)
* Min Thu (playing against Indonesia)

## Team statistics

This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| Finals |||||||||
| 1 | Singapore | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 |
| 2 | Vietnam | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 |
| Semifinals |||||||||
| 3 | Indonesia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 10 | +5 |
| 4 | Thailand | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Eliminated in the group stage |||||||||
| 5 | Myanmar | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −1 |
| 6 | Malaysia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 |
| 7 | Laos | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 |
| 8 | Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | −8 |

## Controversy

This tournament was marred by unsportsmanlike conduct in a match between Thailand and Indonesia during the group stage.
Indonesia was already assured of qualification for the semi-finals, while Thailand would also advance if they did not lose and the Philippines lost to Myanmar by enough for Myanmar to steal the runners up spot. However, both teams also knew that the winners of the match would face hosts Vietnam in the semi-finals, while the losing team would face surprise group winners Singapore, who were perceived to be easier opposition, and would also avoid the inconvenience of moving their team's training base from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi for the semi-finals.
The first half saw little action, with both teams barely making any attempt to score. During the second half both teams managed to score, resulting in a 2–2 score after 90 minutes: during injury time and despite two Thai attackers attempting to stop him, Indonesian defender Mursyid Effendi deliberately scored an own goal, thus handing Thailand a 3–2 victory. FIFA subsequently fined both teams $40,000 for "violating the spirit of the game" [sic], while Mursyid was banned from domestic football for one year and from international football for life.
Ironically in the semi-finals, Thailand lost to Vietnam, while Indonesia lost to Singapore. Singapore would then win the Championship.