Singapore will take on Indonesia, Malaysia and invited side India in Group A of the Premier Division of the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup that will be held from Sept 24 to Oct 3.
The announcement was made during the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, where FIFA President Gianni Infantino and ASEAN secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn signed a renewed memorandum of understanding.
In Group B, reigning ASEAN Championship winners Vietnam are pooled alongside fellow regional powerhouse Thailand, and the Philippines and Pakistan.
Pakistan are the replacements for China, who pulled out earlier to play in a warm-up tournament against Uzbekistan, Palestine, Tajikistan and North Korea to prepare for the 2027 Asian Cup.
Meanwhile, in the second-tier Challenge Division of the tournament, Group A comprises hosts Hong Kong, Myanmar and Brunei, while Group B consists of Cambodia, Laos and Timor-Leste.
Pakistan and Hong Kong are the other invited sides.
The participating member associations were informed through a circular dated July 27 amid the July 24-Aug 26 ASEAN Championship, which is organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) outside FIFA’s international windows.
FIFA also confirmed the details from an earlier report in The Straits Times that there will not be any semi-finals after the round-robin games. Instead, the group winners will play each other to determine each division’s champions, while the runners-up will face off for third and fourth spots, meaning each team will play two to four matches.
In response to ST’s queries, Football Association of Singapore deputy president Desmond Ong said: “We are pleased to be involved in the inaugural edition of the ASEAN Cup, and we are fully behind FIFA’s reasons for initiating this tournament.
“Given our participation in the 2027 Asian Cup, any tournament that allows our squad, our coaches and our backroom staff to gain real-life tournament exposure is invaluable. Given also that the tournament takes place during the FIFA window, it allows us to pick all available players, which will also be the case for the Asian Cup.
“Our proposed opponents are teams we know well. It will be interesting to see how we measure up against them, given the different journeys that each of these countries has undertaken in recent times.”
On Oct 26, 2025, FIFA president Infantino had announced the launch of the new tournament for 11 South-east Asian teams on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Five months later, FIFA said in a statement that the competition will be played in the Sept 21-Oct 6 international window, but details were still lacking.
ST also reported that there was some clarity from the sidelines of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada, on April 30, through the circulation of slides that confirmed the tournament format.
From documents seen by ST, the Premier Division winners can expect to receive US$1 million (S$1.29 million) in prize money from FIFA.
That is more than three times the US$300,000 which the AFF awarded Vietnam for winning the 2024 ASEAN Championship.
The Challenge Division champions will get US$300,000, while every team can expect a guaranteed US$125,000 participation fee and can also earn bonuses for each win or draw.
Including rewards for runners-up and third-place finishers, the prize purse is expected to exceed US$4 million. THE STRAITS TIMES
