Southeast Asian football has a glorious past at the Asian Cup.

Of course, Southeast Asian football representatives have never won the Asian Cup. But in the past, there were times when teams in the region went very far in the Asian championship.

In the 1972 tournament, two Southeast Asian teams made it to the semi-finals, Thailand and the Khmer team (now Cambodia). In these semi-finals, the two representatives of Southeast Asian football only lost by narrow margins to the very strong Asian teams at that time, Iran and South Korea.

Bóng đá Đông Nam Á từng có quá khứ huy hoàng tại Asian Cup - 1 — Thailand won 3rd place in the 1972 Asian Cup (Photo: FAT).

Specifically, the Khmer team lost 1-2 to Iran in the first semi-final of that year's tournament. In the second semi-final, Thailand only lost to South Korea in a penalty shootout, after the two sides drew 1-1 after 120 minutes of regular time and extra time.

At the time, Iran was the reigning Asian Cup champion, while South Korea was the team with the most championships, with two titles in 1956 and 1960.

In the third-place match of the 1972 tournament, Thailand beat Khmer on penalties, after the two sides drew 2–2 after regulation time and extra time.

Third place is also the best achievement of the Thai team in the history of the Asian Cup. Fourth place is the best achievement of the Cambodian team (formerly the Khmer team).

But this is still not the best result that a Southeast Asian team has ever achieved in the Asian championship. The Southeast Asian team with the best result in the history of the Asian Cup is Burma (now Myanmar).

Bóng đá Đông Nam Á từng có quá khứ huy hoàng tại Asian Cup - 2 — The best achievement of the Vietnamese team at the Asian Cup was reaching the quarter-finals in 2007 and 2019 (Photo: Minh Quan).

In the 1968 edition held in Iran, Burma finished second, just behind the hosts Iran. Before 1968, the Asian Football Championship was played in a round-robin format, as there were few teams participating.

For the Vietnamese team, our best achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the two Asian Cups in 2007 and 2019.

In 2007, the Vietnamese team was led by coach Alfred Riedl (Austrian). That year, we were one of the four co-host teams of the tournament, alongside Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

In the quarter-finals of the 2017 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team lost 0-2 to Iraq. Iraq later became the Asian champions.

In 2019, the Vietnamese team under the leadership of coach Park Hang Seo (Korean) once again entered the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup. In the quarter-finals, the Vietnamese team lost 0-1 to Japan. Japan then entered the final of this tournament.

In 2007, the Vietnamese team entered the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup, and a year later we won the AFF Cup 2008 (under the leadership of Portuguese coach Calisto). In 2019, the Vietnamese team entered the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup after winning the AFF Cup 2018 (under the leadership of coach Park Hang Seo).

This year, Southeast Asia has four representatives in the Asian Cup finals, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia and Malaysia have never advanced beyond the group stage.