The 2018 AFF Championship was the 12th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), and the 6th under the name AFF Suzuki Cup. This was the first time a new format has been applied with the group stage was played in a home-and-away format instead of be hosted in two nations from 2002 to 2016.
The final tournament ran from 8 November and ended on 15 December 2018. Through the agreement between AFF and East Asian Football Federation (EAFF), the winner of the tournament will qualify for the AFF–EAFF Champions Trophy.
Thailand were the two-time defending champions, but lost to Malaysia in the semi-finals. Vietnam won the tournament by a 3–2 victory in the two-legged final against Malaysia to secure their second title, and subsequently qualified to meet 2017 EAFF E-1 Football Championship winner of South Korea in the 2019 AFF–EAFF Champions Trophy.
Format In March 2016, it was reported that the AFF was mulling over changes to the tournament format due to the failure to attract big crowds for matches not involving the host nation. It was then confirmed by the AFF that starting with the 2018 edition, a new format would be applied. The nine highest ranked teams would automatically qualify with the 10th and 11th ranked teams playing in a two-legged qualifier. The 10 teams would be split in two groups of five and play a round robin system with each team playing two home and two away fixtures. A draw will be made to determine where the teams play while the format of the knockout round would remain unchanged.
Home-Away matches division: Pots123451~HAHA2A~HAH3HA~HA4AHA~H5HAHA~
Qualification
Nine teams were automatically qualified in the AFF Championship final tournament. Based on the 2016 AFF Championship ranking, Brunei and Timor Leste played in a home and away playoffs which was conducted on 1 and 8 September 2018 with the latter securing qualification. Australia, a member since 2013, did not enter the tournament.
Qualified teams TeamAppearance Previous best performance 7thGroup stage (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2016) 12thRunners-up (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016) 11thGroup stage (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014) 12thWinners (2010) 12thFourth place (2004), Semi-finalists (2016) 11thSemi-finalists (2010, 2012, 2014) 12thWinners (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012) 12thWinners (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016) 2ndGroup stage (2004) 12thWinners (2008)
Draw The draw for the tournament was held on 2 May 2018 at Hotel Mulia in Jakarta, Indonesia with the pot placements followed each teams progress in the previous two editions. At the time of the draw the identity of the national team that secured qualification was still to be determined (Timor-Leste).
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5 (2014 and 2016 holders) (Qualification winner)Source: 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup
Squads
Each team were allowed a preliminary squad of 50 players. A final squad of 23 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) must be registered one day before the first match of the tournament.
Officials The following officials were chosen for the competition.
Referees
Chris Beath Amdillah Zainuddin Fu Ming Ma Ning Thoriq Munir Alkatiri Alireza Faghani Hiroyuki Kimura Adham Makhadmeh Ahmed Al-Ali Amirul Izwan Yaacob Nagor Amir Noor Mohamed Nazmi Nasaruddin Suhaizi Shukri Ahmed Al-Kaf Clifford Daypuyat Abdulrahman Al-Jassim Khamis Al-Marri Turki Al-Khudhayr Ahmad A'qashah Nathan Chan Kim Hee-gon Sivakorn Pu-udom Aziz Asimov Nguyễn Hiền Triết
Assistant referees
Ali Faisal Rosli Raffizal Ramli Pisal Kimsy Chi Sopheap Zhou Fei Bambang Syamsudar Dinan Lazuardi Malang Nurhadi Mohammadreza Mansouri Reza Sokhandan Akane Yagi Ahmed Al-Roalle Kilar Ladsavong Somphavanh Louanglath Arif Shamil Azman Ismail Zairul Khalil Chit Moe Aye Win Thiha Zayar Maung Abu Bakar Al-Amri Krizmark Nanola Relly Balila Saoud Al-Maqaleh Taleb Al-Marri Abdul Hannan Lim Kok Heng Manoj Kalwani Ronnie Koh Min Kiat Komsun Khumpan Pattarapong Kijsathit Phubes Lekpha Phulsawat Samransuk Rachen Srichai Thanet Chuchueun Nguyễn Trung Hậu Phạm Mạnh Long Trần Liêm Thanh Trương Đức Chiến
Fourth officials
Abdul Hakim Haidi Chy Samdy Khuon Virak Oki Dwi Putra Souei Vongkham Xaypaseuth Phongsanith Fitri Maskon Myat Thu Thant Zin Oo Steve Supresencia Jansen Foo Chuan Hui Letchman Gopalakrishnan Muhammad Taqi Mongkolchai Pechsri Titichai Nuanchan Wiwat Jumpao-on
Venues There are one venue for each participating countries in the tournament with each countries get two group matches played in their home stadium. This is the first time Laos and Cambodia host matches of a final tournament. Before the tournament being held, both the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) and Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) have requested AFF to allow their two home matches to be held in two different stadiums in different cities. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) also asked AFF to move their final group match against Cambodia to Hàng Đẫy Stadium as the match date is coincides with the opening ceremony of the Vietnam National Games that will be held in Mỹ Đình National Stadium by which the request was accepted through the AFF meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 13 September. East Timor will play their designated "home" match against Thailand at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, while their home tie against the Philippines will be played at the Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Malaysia due to the incomplete floodlighting of the Dili Municipal Stadium.
Kuala Lumpur HanoiBukit Jalil National StadiumKuala Lumpur StadiumMỹ Đình National StadiumHàng Đẫy StadiumCapacity: 87,411Capacity: 18,000Capacity: 40,192Capacity: 22,500 Jakarta Phnom PenhGelora Bung Karno StadiumOlympic StadiumCapacity: 77,193Capacity: 50,000 Singapore BangkokNational StadiumRajamangala StadiumCapacity: 55,000Capacity: 49,722 Yangon Mandalay Vientiane BacolodThuwunna StadiumMandalarthiri StadiumNew Laos National StadiumPanaad StadiumCapacity: 32,000Capacity: 30,000Capacity: 25,000Capacity: 9,825
Group stage
Tiebreakers Ranking in each group shall be determined as follows: Greater number of points obtained in all the group matches; Goal difference in all the group matches; Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches. If two or more teams are equal on the basis on the above three criteria, the place shall be determined as follows: Result of the direct match between the teams concerned; Penalty shoot-out if only the teams are tied, and they met in the last round of the group; Drawing lots by the Organising Committee.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Bracket
Semi-finals First leg
Second leg
2–2 on aggregate, Malaysia won on away goals.
Vietnam won 4–2 on aggregate.
Finals
First leg
Second leg
Vietnam won 3–2 on aggregate.
Best XI The best XI consisted of the eleven most impressive players at the tournament.
Pos. Player GK Đặng Văn Lâm DF Syahmi Safari DF Álvaro Silva DF Trần Đình Trọng DF Đoàn Văn Hậu MF Safawi Rasid MF Hlaing Bo Bo MF Mohamadou Sumareh MF Nguyễn Quang Hải MF Sanrawat Dechmitr FW Norshahrul Idlan
Statistics Winner
Awards Most Valuable PlayerTop Scorer AwardFair Play Award Nguyễn Quang Hải Adisak Kraisorn
Goalscorers
Discipline In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches.
PlayerOffencesSuspensions Hong Pheng in Group A v Malaysia in Group A v VietnamTeam eliminated from tournament Putu Gede in Group B v SingaporeGroup B v Timor-Leste Soukaphone Vongchiengkham in Group A v Malaysia in Group A v MyanmarGroup A v Cambodia Hlaing Bo Bo in Group A v Vietnam in Group A v MalaysiaTeam eliminated from tournament Thein Than Win in Group A v Cambodia in Group A v LaosGroup A v Vietnam Zulqarnaen Suzliman in Group B v Indonesia in Group B v ThailandTeam eliminated from tournament Aderito in Group B v ThailandGroup B v Indonesia Feliciano Goncalves in Group B v Thailand in Group B v IndonesiaGroup B v Philippines Filomeno in Group B v Philippines in Group B v SingaporeTeam eliminated from tournament Gumario in Group B v Thailand in Group B v IndonesiaGroup B v Philippines
Player who get a card during the semifinals and final doesn't include here.
Tournament teams ranking This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.
Marketing
New tournament visuals, including a logo, for the AFF Championship was unveiled for the 2018 edition during the official draw held on 2 May 2018. The ASEAN Football Federation cooperated with Lagardère Sports for the tournament's branding. Five attributes were identified that are "synonymous" to the tournament. Elements combined to form the logo are a beating heart, a goalpost and raised hands by a fan that is meant to signify "pride, loyalty, football, rivalry, and passion".
In addition a colour scheme was developed for the branding. The colours devised are magenta (passion and energy), cyan (fresh beginning), green (vibrancy of a football pitch) and blue (topography of the region).
Matchballs The official ball for AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 is the Primero Mundo X Star, which is sponsored by Grand Sport Group.
Sponsorship Title sponsorOfficial sponsorsOfficial supportersRegional supporters Suzuki Honor Men's Bioré Yanmar AirAsia Pinaco UnionPay 100plus Grand Sport Group
Media coverage 2018 AFF Championship television broadcasters in Southeast Asia Country Broadcast network Television Radio Streaming (Brunei and Malaysia only) Fox International Channels Fox Sports Asia (selected matches) RTB RTB Aneka (selected matches) Bayon Television BTV News (selected matches) MNC Media, Emtek, Kompas Gramedia Group RCTI (Indonesian matches only);K-Vision MNC Trijaya FM MeTube (Indonesian matches only); Vidio (selected matches) LNTV TVLao HD (Laotian matches only) RTM TV1, TV2, RTM HD Sports (all matches) MyKlik (all matches) MRTV, Sky Net MRTV, MRTV Sports (two matches only); Sky Net Sports 1, Sky Net Sports 4, Sky Net Sports HD (all matches) Myanmar Radio TV5 Network Inc. 5 Network, AksyonTV (Philippine matches only) ESPN 5 (Philippine matches only) MediaCorp Okto (Singaporean group stage matches; semi-finals & final) Toggle (Singaporean matches only) BBTV 7HD (Thai matches only) Bugaboo TV (all matches); LINE TV (selected matches) Esperança Timor Oan ETO+, DTV (East Timorese matches only) VTV, VOV, Next Media VTV5, VTV6, BĐTV, TTTV, VTC3, VTC9, K+PM, THVL2 (all matches) VOV1, VOV2, VOV3, VOV Transportation, VOV FM 89 (Vietnamese matches only) VTV Sports, vtv.vn, VTV Go, VTV Giải Trí, THVLi, On Sports, Onme, myK+ (all matches); vov.vn, VTC Now (Vietnamese matches only) 2018 AFF Championship international television broadcasters Hong Kong Cable Television i-Cable Sports (selected matches) i-Cable Web and Mobile (selected matches) Turner Broadcasting System Bleacher Report (all matches) Seoul Broadcasting SystemSBS, SBS Sports (Vietnamese matches only)SBS Play (Vietnamese matches only) N/A = Not available
Incidents and controversies