Southeast Asian football "strolls" in September, waiting to explode at the end of the year

(Dan Tri) - Most Southeast Asian teams will play light friendly matches this September, preparing for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers at the end of the year.

The FIFA Days series (a series of days when teams around the world are on international duty, according to a unified schedule set by FIFA) in September will take place from September 3 to September 9. For Southeast Asian teams, this is the time when they have light friendly matches, mainly to check their strength and wait for the official matches in October and November.

The most notable name for Vietnamese football fans, among the Southeast Asian rivals, is probably Malaysia (ranked 125th in the world). The team, dubbed Harimau Malaya, will play a friendly match with Singapore (ranked 159th) on September 4. Then, on September 7, Malaysia will meet Palestine (ranked 98th).

Malaysia will play friendly matches with Singapore and Palestine in September (Photo: VFF).

Neither Singapore nor Palestine are strong teams, which shows that the Malaysian team mainly just wants to “warm up” these days, waiting for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign to return next October.

The same is true for Thailand (ranked 102nd in the world). The Golden Temple team will meet Fiji (ranked 150th) in the semi-finals of the King's Cup on September 4. If they beat Fiji, Thailand will meet the winner of the other semi-final between Iraq (ranked 58th) and Hong Kong (China, ranked 147th) on September 7.

If they lose to Fiji (which is extremely unlikely because Fiji is a very weak team), Thailand will also face the loser in the semi-final between Iraq and Hong Kong. If there are no surprises, Thailand will meet Iraq in the King's Cup final on September 7.

As for Singapore, in addition to the match against Malaysia on September 4, the Lion Island team will meet Myanmar (ranked 160) on September 9. In contrast, Myanmar only has one friendly match with Singapore on September 9.

Match schedule of Southeast Asian teams in September (Photo: ASEAN Football).

The Southeast Asian team that needs to "warm up" with the strongest teams is Indonesia, but has only successfully contacted two mid-level opponents, Taiwan and Lebanon.

Indonesia (ranked 118th in the world) will face Chinese Taipei (ranked 172nd in the world) on September 5. They will then play Lebanon (ranked 112th in the world) on September 9. Indonesia are looking to make a run at the World Cup qualifiers, but they have yet to find a way to play stronger opponents than the aforementioned teams.

It is not difficult to see that apart from Iraq (ranked 58th) and Palestine (ranked 98th), none of the remaining opponents of the Southeast Asian representative in the FIFA Days in September are in the top 100 of the International Football Federation (FIFA). At the same time, only Iraq is considered stronger than the teams in the region.

That shows that, compared to the opponents playing international friendly matches with weak teams, the Vietnamese team playing domestic friendly matches against Nam Dinh Club and Hanoi Police Club during the FIFA Days in September is not a matter worth discussing.

With friendly matches against domestic clubs, coach Kim Sang Sik's team can still prepare well for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying matches against Laos and Nepal in October and November.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bong-da-dong-nam-a-dao-choi-vao-thang-9-cho-bung-no-nhung-ngay-cuoi-nam-20250901162909056.htm