FIFA President Gianni Infantino unveiled a new soccer tournament for Southeast Asian nations on Sunday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Malaysia.
Southeast Asia already stages the ASEAN Championship, a biennial regional competition, with Vietnam winning the most recent edition in January. But Infantino said the new tournament will be held during FIFA’s international match window allowing players from leagues around the world to join their national teams, The Associated Press reported.
“Through the FIFA ASEAN Cup, we are uniting countries together, and this competition will be a huge success,” Infantino said. “It will help boost national team football in the ASEAN region and will support the development of our sport across all of Southeast Asia.”
Infantino made the announcement hours after East Timor was formally admitted as ASEAN’s 11th member.
“The number 11 is a symbolic one in the footballing world as each team has 11 players,” Infantino said.
Indonesia was the only team from an ASEAN member nation to advance beyond the third round of continental qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
The new southeast Asian tournament is expected to be staged in a similar format to the Arab Cup. FIFA said it would engage stakeholders including the Asian Football Confederation before finalizing the details.
