Anwar urges Malaysians to back Harimau Malaya as they begin their FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 campaign against Bangladesh in Jakarta
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on Malaysians to give their full support to the Harimau Malaya squad as they compete in the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026, which will be held in Indonesia from Sept 25 to Oct 5.
“Insya-Allah, Harimau Malaya will begin their campaign against Bangladesh this Friday, before taking on two neighbouring countries, Indonesia and Singapore.
“Let us give our full support to the national team. Hopefully, they will bring success home to Malaysia!” he said in a Facebook post today.
Recalling the announcement of the tournament, Anwar said it was made during the 47th ASEAN Summit in the federal capital last year.
“At the time, I witnessed the signing of a collaboration between FIFA and ASEAN, which paved the way for the staging of this tournament,” he said.
Malaysia, ranked 136th in the world, will open their campaign against 181st-ranked Bangladesh at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Friday before facing Indonesia on Sept 28 and Singapore on Oct 1.
The inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup features two groups, with Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Bangladesh in Group A, while Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan make up Group B.
The group winners will meet in the final at the Gelora Bung Karno on Oct 5, while the runners-up will contest the third-place playoff at the same venue earlier that day.
