The 2020 AFF Championship (officially AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the 7th and the last edition under the name AFF Suzuki Cup.

The final tournament was originally scheduled to run from 23 November to 31 December 2020. However, the tournament was postponed and rescheduled at least twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tournament was first rescheduled to run from 11 April to 8 May 2021 and the schedule later pushed backed further to 5 December 2021 to 1 January 2022. Singapore was chosen as host of the tournament in a centralised location.

Vietnam were the defending champions, but were eliminated by their rivals, Thailand in the semi-finals. Thailand won the tournament by a 6–2 victory in the two-legged final against Indonesia to secure their sixth title.

Format

The AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 was hosted in a centralized venue due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia. On 28 September 2021, it was announced that Singapore would host the tournament. Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam also expressed interest in hosting the tournament.

In the group stage of the competition proper, ten teams were drawn in two groups of five with single round-robin format. The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals.

The organizers preferred to hold the tournament under its original format, which featured two-leg home-and-away games. Away goals rule was not applied for this tournament.

Up to five substitutions may be allowed as per recommendation of FIFA.

Qualification

Qualified for AFF ChampionshipWithdrewDid not enter Not an AFF member

Nine teams automatically qualified to the AFF Championship final tournament; they were separated into their respective pots based on their performance of the last two editions. Brunei and Timor-Leste who were the two lowest-performing teams were supposed to play a match where the winner will secure a spot to the final tournament but Brunei withdrew citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia applied to attend the 2020 AFF Championship but was rejected by the AFF.

Due to non-compliance with conditions set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Thailand and Indonesia were not allowed to be represented by their national flags.

Qualified teams

TeamAppearancePrevious best performance
Cambodia8thGroup Stage (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2018)
Indonesia13thRunners-up (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016)
Laos12thGroup Stage (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018)
Malaysia13thWinners (2010)
Myanmar13thFourth place / Semi-finalists (2004, 2016)
Philippines12thSemi-finalists (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018)
Singapore13thWinners (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012)
Thailand13thWinners (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016)
Timor-Leste3rdGroup Stage (2004, 2018)
Vietnam13thWinners (2008, 2018)

Notes

Draw

The draw for the 2020 AFF Championship was originally set to be held on 10 August 2021 in Singapore but due to the enhanced COVID-19 restrictions in the country, the draw was postponed. The draw was done virtually and held on 21 September 2021. 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 unknown, as it was supposed to be contested between Brunei and Timor Leste. Timor Leste qualified to the group stage after the withdrawal of Brunei from the qualification play-off.

Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5
Vietnam (2018 holders)ThailandMalaysiaMyanmarPhilippinesIndonesiaSingaporeCambodiaLaosTimor-Leste (Qualification round winner)

Squads

Each team were allowed a preliminary squad of 50 players. A final squad of 30 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) 23 players registered for each match.[citation needed]

Officials

The following officials were chosen for the competition.

Referees

Assistant referees

Venues

Singapore
KallangBishanLocation of stadiums of the 2020 AFF ChampionshipKallangBishan
National StadiumBishan Stadium
Capacity: 55,000Capacity: 6,254

Group stage

Tiebreakers

Ranking in each group shall be determined as follows:

  1. Greater number of points obtained in all the group matches;
  2. Goal difference in all the group matches;
  3. 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:

  1. Result of the direct match between the teams concerned;
  2. Penalty shoot-out if only the teams are tied, and they met in the last round of the group;
  3. Drawing lots by the Organising Committee.

Group A

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Thailand4400101+912Advance to semi-finals
2Singapore (H)430173+49
3Philippines4202126+66
4Myanmar4103410−63
5Timor-Leste4004013−130
Timor-Leste0–2Thailand
Pathompol 51' Supachok 81'
Singapore3–0Myanmar
Safuwan 34' Ikhsan 39', 45+1'
Myanmar2–0Timor-Leste
Than Paing 16' Maung Maung Lwin 50'
Philippines1–2Singapore
Nazari 69'Hariss 61' Faris 63'
Timor-Leste0–7Philippines
Steuble 21' Nazari 31' Guirado 35' Reichelt 40' Nyholm 45' Marañón 45+1' Ingreso 78'
Thailand4–0Myanmar
Teerasil 23', 53' (pen.) Worachit 78' Supachok 90+2'
Philippines1–2Thailand
Reichelt 57'Teerasil 26', 78' (pen.)
Singapore2–0Timor-Leste
Adam S. 4' Shakir 70'
Thailand2–0Singapore
Dolah 31' Supachai 45+2'
Myanmar2–3Philippines
Htet Phyo Wai 74', 86'Marañón 16', 19', 45'

Group B

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Indonesia4310134+910Advance to semi-finals
2Vietnam431090+910
3Malaysia42028806
4Cambodia4103611−53
5Laos4004114−130
Cambodia1–3Malaysia
Rosib 90' (pen.)Safawi 23' (pen.) Akhyar 61' Kogileswaran 78'
Laos0–2Vietnam
Nguyễn Công Phượng 26' Phan Văn Đức 55'
Malaysia4–0Laos
Safawi 7', 34', 80' Shahrul 78'
Indonesia4–2Cambodia
Irianto 5', 33' Evan 17' Rumakiek 54'Safy 37' Mony Udom 60'
Laos1–5Indonesia
Kydavone 41'Asnawi 23' (pen.) Irfan 34' Witan 56' Ezra 77' Evan 84'
Vietnam3–0Malaysia
Nguyễn Quang Hải 32' Nguyễn Công Phượng 36' Nguyễn Hoàng Đức 89'
Cambodia3–0Laos
Vathanaka 31', 41' Chanthea 74'
Indonesia0–0Vietnam
Vietnam4–0Cambodia
Nguyễn Tiến Linh 3', 27' Bùi Tiến Dũng 55' Nguyễn Quang Hải 57'
Malaysia1–4Indonesia
Kogileswaran 13'Irfan 36', 43' Arhan 50' Baggott 82'

Knockout stage

Bracket

Semi-finalsFinals
A2Singapore123
B1Indonesia (a.e.t.)145
B1Indonesia022
A1Thailand426
B2Vietnam000
A1Thailand202

Semi-finals

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Singapore3–5Indonesia1–12–4 (a.e.t.)
Vietnam0–2Thailand0–20–0

First leg

Singapore1–1Indonesia
Ikhsan 70'Witan 28'
Vietnam0–2Thailand
Chanathip 14', 23'

Second leg

Indonesia4–2 (a.e.t.)Singapore
Ezra 11' Arhan 87' Shawal 91' (o.g.) Egy 105+2'Song Ui-young 45+4' Shahdan 74'

Indonesia won 5–3 on aggregate.

Thailand0–0Vietnam

Thailand won 2–0 on aggregate.

Final

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Indonesia2–6Thailand0–42–2

First leg

Indonesia0–4Thailand
Chanathip 2', 52' Supachok 67' Bordin 83'

Second leg

Thailand2–2Indonesia
Adisak 54' Sarach 56'Kambuaya 7' Egy 80'

Thailand won 6–2 on aggregate.

Statistics

Winner

2020 AFF Championship
Thailand 6th title

Awards

Most Valuable PlayerYoung Player of the TournamentTop Scorer AwardFair Play Award
Thailand national football team Chanathip SongkrasinIndonesia national football team Pratama ArhanMalaysia national football team Safawi Rasid Philippines national football team Bienvenido Marañón Thailand national football team Chanathip Songkrasin Thailand national football team Teerasil DangdaIndonesia

Goalscorers

There were 88 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 3.38 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Source: AFF

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
Cambodia Ken Chansopheakin Group B v Malaysia in Group B v VietnamTeam already eliminated from tournament
Indonesia Ramai Rumakiekin Group B v Cambodia in Group B v MalaysiaSemi-finals 1st-leg v Singapore
Indonesia Pratama Arhanin Semi-finals 1st-leg v Singapore in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v SingaporeFinals 1st-leg v Thailand
Laos Aphixay Thanakhantyin Group B v Malaysia in Group B v IndonesiaGroup B v Cambodia
Myanmar Nyein Chanin Group A v Singapore in Group A v PhilippinesTeam already eliminated from tournament
Philippines Stephan Schröckin Group A v Singapore in Group A v ThailandGroup A v Myanmar
Philippines Martin Steublein Group A v Thailand in Group A v MyanmarTeam already eliminated from tournament
Singapore Safuwan Baharudinin Semi-finals 1st-leg v Indonesia in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v IndonesiaTeam already eliminated from tournament
Singapore Irfan Fandiin Semi-finals 2nd-leg v IndonesiaTeam already eliminated from tournament
Singapore Hassan Sunnyin Semi-finals 2nd-leg v IndonesiaTeam already eliminated from tournament
Thailand Theerathon Bunmathanin Semi-finals 1st leg v Vietnam in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v VietnamFinals 1st-leg v Indonesia

In addition, 4 Indonesian players (Elkan Baggott, Victor Igbonefo, Rizky Ridho and Rizky Dwi Febrianto) were barred from the 2nd leg of the Indonesia-Thailand Final on 1 January 2022 for breaching COVID-19 safety measures by leaving the team hotel without authorisation.

Tournament teams ranking

This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsFinal result
1Thailand8620183+1520Champion
2Indonesia84312013+715Runner-up
3Vietnam632192+711Semi-final
4Singapore6312108+210
5Philippines4202126+66Eliminated in group stage
6Malaysia42028806
7Cambodia4103611−53
8Myanmar4103410−63
9Laos4004114−130
10Timor-Leste4004013−130

Marketing

Matchballs

The official ball for AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 is the ASEAN PULSE, which is sponsored by Warrix.

Sponsorship

Title sponsorOfficial sponsorsOfficial supporters
SuzukiOppo Bioré G-Shock Midea YanmarAcecook Coocaa Fuji Electric Herbalife Nutrition Jinro Mitsubishi Electric Pinaco TMGM

Media coverage

2020 AFF Championship television broadcasters in Southeast Asia
CountryBroadcast networkTelevisionRadioStreaming
BruneiRTBRTB Aneka—N/a—N/a
CambodiaSmart AxiataHang Meas HDTV
IndonesiaMNC Media, EmtekRCTI (Indonesian matches only), iNews (FTA), Champions TV[id] (Pay)RCTI+[id], Vision+, Vidio
LaosNext Media
MalaysiaAstro, RTMAstro Arena, Sukan RTM
MyanmarNext Media
PhilippinesTAP DMVPremier Sport (Pay)TAP Go
SingaporeMediacorpmeWATCH
ThailandBBTVCH7Bugaboo, AIS Play
Timor-LesteRTTLTVTL
VietnamVTV, Next MediaVTV5, VTV6On 365 FMTV360, VTVcab ON, FPT Play
2020 AFF Championship international television broadcasters
InternationalYouTube(unsold markets only)
Hong KongHong Kong Cable Television—N/a
South KoreaSeoul Broadcasting SystemSBS, SBS Sports (Indonesian and Vietnamese matches only)—N/a

Notes

Sources

  • Thailand: . Bangkok Post. Bangkok Post Public Co. Ltd. The country has also been denied the right to display its national flag at any such events (international football events).. World Anti-Doping Agency. 7 October 2021.
  • Indonesia: . VOI. 24 November 2021.. World Anti-Doping Agency. 7 October 2021.

External links