The Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) has officially announced a significant change to the schedule for the ASEAN Cup 2026.
Historically, the ASEAN Cup, often referred to as the AFF Championship, has typically been held towards the end of the year. However, for the upcoming 2026 edition, the tournament will be staged during July and August.
The competition format will remain consistent with previous iterations, featuring a group stage comprising five teams, followed by a knockout phase with semifinals and a final.
The confirmed schedule for the ASEAN Cup 2026 is as follows:
Group Stage:
July 24 – August 8, 2026
Semifinals and Final:
August 15 – 26, 2026
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Meanwhile, Vietnamese media outlet Soha has critically assessed this schedule alteration, suggesting it offers little benefit to the Indonesian national team. In fact, Soha predicts that the Indonesian squad will continue to face significant scheduling dilemmas.
According to Soha, the revised timing does not alleviate the challenges Indonesia faces in calling up players, particularly those based abroad. The Garuda squad is anticipated to still encounter difficulties in securing the release of its European-based players, as club approval remains a crucial requirement.
Conversely, Vietnam is seen to gain an advantage from this change, primarily because a significant number of its national team players compete in domestic leagues, simplifying their availability.
“The Vietnam national team benefits, while Indonesia faces a headache,” Soha emphatically stated. “Moving the AFF Cup to July-August is an effort to help teams gather all their stars. This is because, during this period, most national championships in Southeast Asia for the 2026/27 season will not yet have commenced.”
However, Soha further elaborated, “The Vietnamese team arguably still holds an edge over its rivals. This is due to the fact that the 2026 AFF Cup falls outside the FIFA international match calendar (FIFA Days), granting clubs the right to refuse to release players to their national teams.” The report highlighted that Indonesia and the Philippines are the two teams most likely to be severely impacted should clubs opt not to release their players for national duty.
Soha specifically noted, “The Indonesian team will likely be unable to call up all its stars playing in Europe, such as Jay Idzes, Kevin Diks, Calvin Verdonk, Joey Pelupessy, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Ole Romeny, Ragnar Oratmangoen, Emil Audero, and Mees Hilgers.”
Summary
The Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) has officially rescheduled the ASEAN Cup 2026 to take place in July and August, a significant shift from its traditional year-end timing. The group stage is set for July 24 to August 8, 2026, followed by the semifinals and final from August 15 to 26, maintaining the established competition format.
Vietnamese media outlet Soha suggests this new schedule offers little advantage to Indonesia, predicting difficulties in calling up European-based players because the tournament falls outside the FIFA international match calendar. This means clubs can refuse to release players, potentially impacting Indonesia and the Philippines the most. In contrast, Vietnam is expected to benefit, as many of its national team players compete in domestic leagues and will be available before their seasons begin.
