After two matches, U23 Indonesia is temporarily leading with 6 absolute points. U23 Philippines and U23 Malaysia (both with 3 points) share the next two positions. At the bottom of the table is U23 Brunei, who has not won any points and has been officially eliminated. With this score, U23 Indonesia is holding a big advantage in winning the top position and the only official ticket to continue.
In the final match of Group A on July 21, U23 Indonesia only needs 1 point against U23 Malaysia to get a ticket to the semi-finals. With home field advantage and a better quality squad, U23 Indonesia is expected to have no difficulty in achieving this goal.
At the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian Championship, head-to-head results will be taken into account first if teams have the same number of points. Therefore, U23 Indonesia is still at risk of being eliminated if it loses to U23 Malaysia and U23 Philippines cannot beat U23 Brunei. At that time, U23 Indonesia and Malaysia will have the same 6 points but the "young Harimau Tigers" will take the top spot thanks to a direct win over the young home players.
Things could get even more complicated if U23 Malaysia defeats Indonesia and U23 Philippines defeats Brunei. If this happens, the three U23 teams of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines will all have 6 points. At this point, the head-to-head record between these three teams will be taken into account. Specifically, U23 Philippines beat Malaysia 2-0 but lost to U23 Indonesia 0-1.
Thus, U23 Indonesia can still be eliminated if they lose to U23 Malaysia by 2 goals or more. U23 Philippines is the team with the most advantage, because with a goal difference of +1 (considering the three teams), they will at least have the second place in the group, hoping to get a ticket to the semi-finals. Meanwhile, U23 Malaysia is at the most disadvantage when they have to win big against U23 Indonesia to be able to continue.
After two matches at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, U23 Malaysia still could not satisfy the home fans. Against a much weaker opponent, U23 Malaysia completely dominated the game and created many dangerous opportunities. However, U23 Malaysia wasted many opportunities, even allowing the opponent to score. If they continue to perform as in the past matches, U23 Malaysia will find it difficult to make a difference against U23 Indonesia.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/giai-u23-dong-nam-a-2025-cuc-dien-phuc-tap-o-bang-a-20250719083421776.htm
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