ASEAN Cup 2026 to be played in the summer?

The Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) has proposed to postpone the ASEAN Cup to the end of summer, instead of holding it at the end of the year as is traditional.

ASEAN Cup may be moved to summer. Photo: Bao Ngoc.

Under the new plan, the tournament will take place from July 25 to August 26, 2026, right after the World Cup ends in the US, Canada and Mexico (from June 11 to July 19).

Previously, the ASEAN Cup was held in August or September in the early years under the names Tiger Cup or AFF Cup. Since 2000, the tournament has been held from November to January of the following year.

However, this schedule is no longer suitable when the Southeast Asian National Championships switch to a two-year season like other countries in the world . In addition, the ASEAN Cup is not yet part of the FIFA Days group, the time when clubs have to release players to the national team.

These things are said to make it difficult for teams to call up players. At the ASEAN Cup 2024, Indonesia was at a disadvantage, not having the strongest squad and having to use the U21 team because they could not call up stars playing in Europe.

In addition to changes to the ASEAN Cup, the AFF meeting in Thailand on May 21 also approved plans to organize regional tournaments including the 2025 AFF Women's Football Championship hosted by Vietnam (August 6-19), the 2025 AFF U23 Championship in Indonesia (July 15-29) and the 2025/26 AFF Club Championship taking place from August 2025 to May 2026.

The ASEAN Cup has been held 15 times with Thailand being the most successful team, with 7 championships (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022). The following teams are Singapore (4 times), Vietnam (3 times) and Malaysia (1 time).

Source: https://znews.vn/asean-cup-2026-da-vao-mua-he-post1554759.html