muham_istau
Premiership
I was born in Indonesia, one of 11 countries in The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, been living here my whole life inside a nation with a 273.5 million "football craze" population (according to Google at least). Did you know that Indonesia has played in the World Cup before? yup, the 1938 World Cup in France under the name of "Dutch East Indies" (damn you colonization era) as the only representative of Asia. We lost to Hungary 6-0 and were unable (and still) to return to the highest stage until now. At least I can proudly brag that Indonesia is still the only ASEAN country that ever plays in the World Cup main stage 
(That if you did not count Australia, as of 2013 they joined the AFF for development reasons).
Back to the present situation, currently there are 12 members of the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation), 11 ASEAN counties + Australia.
Current FIFA rank of the 12 AFF Members (as of 23 Dec 2021):
35 - Australia
98 - Vietnam
115 - Thailand
128 - Philippines
152 - Myanmar
154 - Malaysia
160 - Singapore
164 - Indonesia
171 - Cambodia
187 - Laos
188 - Brunei Darussalam
196 - Timor Leste
As you can see, most of us didn't even close to the top 100, even closer to the bottom than the top. We may be lacking in many ways like technical abilities, club/national team management, youth development, but man... I do think we have the most passionate fans in the world
Now to the AFF Suzuki Cup, the cup to determine the sub-continental champion of South East Asia, this cup has 4 different age range (AFAIK), AFF U-16 Youth Championship, AFF U-19 Youth Championship, AFF U-22 Youth Championship, and the main AFF Championship (currently called AFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reason), contested by the senior national team. (Australia only participate in the U-16 & U-19 levels, and opt-out to participate in the U-22 & the senior levels)
The AFF Suzuki Cup is contested every two years. As you can see from the FIFA ranking, the current powerhouses of ASEAN are Vietnam and Thailand. There are only 4 countries that ever win the title, Thailand is the record holder with 5 times (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, and 2016), and the current reigning champion Vietnam has only ever won the cup twice in its history (2008 & 2018), fewer than Singapore that won it 4 times in 1998, 2004, 2007, and 2012, and Malaysia won it once in 2010, after beating Indonesia in the final. (Indonesia holding the record of 5 times runner-up)
With the 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup ongoing, I'm really amazed by how each country has progressed, some with big strides, and some with little steps. Thailand with some of their main players played in J1 League (One the best league in Asia of course), Vietnam is the only ASEAN team through to the third round of 2022 World Cup Qualification, Indonesia with their young and full of prospect team with players that play in Europes and Asian leagues led by the famous Shin Tae-yong, the coach that famously knocked-out Germany from 2018 WC with South Korea, Cambodia also with their young and talented players, led by one of the best former Japanese player Keisuke Honda.
Looking at each country's progress, I do think that ASEAN countries can spread threats maybe not in the WC currently, but surely at the Asia level.
If you are someone from ASEAN or maybe someone that looking closely at ASEAN football, feel free to share your thought maybe about your national team, ASEAN football in general, or even some prediction or review of the current AFF Suzuki Cup
(That if you did not count Australia, as of 2013 they joined the AFF for development reasons).Back to the present situation, currently there are 12 members of the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation), 11 ASEAN counties + Australia.
Current FIFA rank of the 12 AFF Members (as of 23 Dec 2021):
35 - Australia
98 - Vietnam
115 - Thailand
128 - Philippines
152 - Myanmar
154 - Malaysia
160 - Singapore
164 - Indonesia
171 - Cambodia
187 - Laos
188 - Brunei Darussalam
196 - Timor Leste
As you can see, most of us didn't even close to the top 100, even closer to the bottom than the top. We may be lacking in many ways like technical abilities, club/national team management, youth development, but man... I do think we have the most passionate fans in the world
Now to the AFF Suzuki Cup, the cup to determine the sub-continental champion of South East Asia, this cup has 4 different age range (AFAIK), AFF U-16 Youth Championship, AFF U-19 Youth Championship, AFF U-22 Youth Championship, and the main AFF Championship (currently called AFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reason), contested by the senior national team. (Australia only participate in the U-16 & U-19 levels, and opt-out to participate in the U-22 & the senior levels)
The AFF Suzuki Cup is contested every two years. As you can see from the FIFA ranking, the current powerhouses of ASEAN are Vietnam and Thailand. There are only 4 countries that ever win the title, Thailand is the record holder with 5 times (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, and 2016), and the current reigning champion Vietnam has only ever won the cup twice in its history (2008 & 2018), fewer than Singapore that won it 4 times in 1998, 2004, 2007, and 2012, and Malaysia won it once in 2010, after beating Indonesia in the final. (Indonesia holding the record of 5 times runner-up)
With the 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup ongoing, I'm really amazed by how each country has progressed, some with big strides, and some with little steps. Thailand with some of their main players played in J1 League (One the best league in Asia of course), Vietnam is the only ASEAN team through to the third round of 2022 World Cup Qualification, Indonesia with their young and full of prospect team with players that play in Europes and Asian leagues led by the famous Shin Tae-yong, the coach that famously knocked-out Germany from 2018 WC with South Korea, Cambodia also with their young and talented players, led by one of the best former Japanese player Keisuke Honda.
Looking at each country's progress, I do think that ASEAN countries can spread threats maybe not in the WC currently, but surely at the Asia level.
If you are someone from ASEAN or maybe someone that looking closely at ASEAN football, feel free to share your thought maybe about your national team, ASEAN football in general, or even some prediction or review of the current AFF Suzuki Cup
Last edited:
