The men's football tournament at the 2023 SEA Games was held in Cambodia. Ten Southeast Asian nations entered the men's tournament. The tournament was limited to players exclusively under-22 years of age (born on or after 1 January 2001).
Vietnam were the two-time defending champions, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by Indonesia. The Indonesians went on to win their first title in 32 years, and their third title in history by defeating Thailand 5–2 in the final.
Competition schedule The following is the competition schedule for the football competitions: GGroup stage½SemifinalsB3rd place play-offFFinal EventSat 29Sun 30Mon 1Tue 2Wed 3Thu 4Fri 5Sat 6Sun 7Mon 8Tue 9Wed 10Thu 11Fri 12Sat 13Sun 14Mon 15Tue 16MenG G G G G GG G G G ½ B F
Venues Three venues were used during the tournament. Olympic Stadium hosted Group A, the Semi-finals, Bronze medal match and the Gold medal Match. Olympic StadiumRSN StadiumVisakha Stadium Capacity: 50,000Capacity: 5,000Capacity: 15,000
Participating nations
Draw The draw for the tournament was held on 5 April 2023 at the Morodok Techo National Stadium. 10 teams were seeded into five pots based on their performance in the 2021 edition. The hosts were allocated in Pot 1.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5
Squads
The men's tournament was an under-22 international tournament, with no overage players allowed.
Group stage All times are Cambodia Standard Time (UTC+7).
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Semi-finals
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
Goalscorers
Final ranking
Controversy Chaos ensued in the match between the Indonesia and Thailand in the final match.
The first incident occurred when referee Qasim Al Hatmi blew the whistle during the injury time of the second half. At that time, Indonesia had a 2–1 lead and were ready to celebrate their victory and championship title. When the whistle sounded, Indonesian head coach Indra Sjafri, started celebrating with the staff because they mistook the long blow for a full-time signal. However, Al Hatmi had actually intended to signal a free kick for Thailand. After the premature celebrations settled down, the free kick that followed led to Thailand striker Yotsakorn Burapha scoring an equalizer goal, thereby making the score 2–2. Indonesian coaches and players began criticizing the referee's decision, and Indonesian media claims that Al Hatmi gave an unfair advantage to the opponent with the seven-minute additional time.
After the extra time match started, Indonesian player Irfan Jauhari scored a goal in the 91st minute, making the score 3–2 and giving back Indonesia the lead. The goal was again followed by unrest in the benches. In the videos that were shown, Indonesia's team manager Sumardji was beaten and punched by several Thai coaching staff and players which resulted in Sumardji's face bleeding from the nose and mouth. As a result of the incident, the referee issued several red cards to the Thailand players and coaching staff. Indonesia went on to score two more goals and lose none during the remaining duration of extra time, and conquer the championship title after 32 years of drought.
See also Football at the 2023 SEA Games – Women's tournament
References