Controversy over AFF Cup 2026 lasting 1 month, longer than the World Cup: Clash with the National Championship?

Regional football experts have expressed concern that the AFF Cup (currently the ASEAN Cup) will be held next summer right after the 2026 World Cup ends, but will last more than a month even though only 10 teams will participate.

Why is the AFF Cup extended?

It is not difficult to see that the AFF Cup tournaments from 2004 - 2016 and 2018 until now, the competition format has been extended, including the group stage with home matches, then the group stage with home and away matches. Before entering the knockout round, there is also a home and away format from the semi-finals to the final, lasting from 1 month or more.

The Vietnam team is the current champion of the AFF Cup, and will have the opportunity to conquer the upcoming FIFA ASEAN Cup championship.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

This format once created a huge attraction for viewers across Southeast Asia, but now it seems to be outdated, due to the big change in regional football when most national championships have switched to a season-style competition like in Europe (playing from summer to spring of the following year). MLS (USA) has also just decided to change to this model from 2027.

Therefore, the change in the time of the AFF Cup 2026 (moving from the end of the year to return to the summer like the last time in 1998 in Vietnam), but still continuing to compete right after the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico ended, has immediately met with many reactions.

Specifically, the AFF Cup 2026 will take place from July 24 to August 26, 2026, just about a week after the 2026 World Cup final in the US ends. The group stage will be played in a round-robin format from July 24 to August 8, 2026. Then there will be the knockout stage, playing home and away matches from the semi-finals to the final, from August 15 to 26, 2026. It will last for nearly a month, but only 10 teams will participate.

"The 2022 World Cup will have 32 participating teams, but will last for about a month. The 2026 World Cup will have 48 teams, and will also last for 32 days. However, the AFF Cup, which will only have 10 teams in the region, will last too long, even longer than the 2022 World Cup.

This will cause domestic tournaments to also have to adjust their opening dates. Because most of the national championships in Southeast Asia currently start their new season in the summer and end in the spring of the following year," Footy Rankings , a website specializing in calculating FIFA rankings, regional and Asian national championships, expressed concern about the new schedule of the AFF Cup 2026.

"A tournament with 10 participating teams lasting almost a month, plus the knockout round, is actually longer than the World Cup. This tournament (AFF Cup 2026) ends right before the new season starts, and it seems that most teams will not have their strongest squads. Because that is the period when clubs also have to prepare for the new season that is about to start," said Malaysian journalist Sivan John.

Meanwhile, there are opinions that the AFF Cup should return to the format of the competition, which is limited to about 2 weeks as before (1996 - 2002) and takes place during the FIFA Days. This will help the teams to call up their strongest members to participate and increase competitiveness.

Another factor is that from 2027, FIFA will officially organize the FIFA ASEAN Cup, which may also affect the appeal of the AFF Cup, because the competition format lasts too long, not only tiring fans but also greatly affecting the clubs.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tranh-cai-aff-cup-2026-thi-dau-tan-1-thang-keo-dai-hon-ca-world-cup-dung-do-giai-vdqg-185251115105815452.htm