The 2026 ASEAN Championship, commonly referred to as ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026[2] for sponsorship reasons, or simply ASEAN Cup 2026, will be the 16th ASEAN Championship, the biennal international men's football championship of Southeast Asia organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and will be the 1st edition under the name ASEAN HYUNDAI CUP™. The tournament will celebrate as the 30th anniversary of the competition.[1]
The event will be held in July and August on the summer season for the first time, instead of the traditional monsoon season near the year-end.[3][4]
It remains unclear how the FIFA ASEAN Cup announced in October 2025 would relate to the ASEAN Championship.[4]
The 2026 ASEAN Championship will follow format since 2018. In the current format, the nine highest ranked teams would automatically qualify, with the 10th and 11th ranked teams playing a two-legged qualifiers. The 10 teams would be split in two groups of five and play a round robin system with each team playing two home and two away fixtures. The top two sides of each group will advance to the knockout stages consisting of two-legged semi-finals and finals.[5]Away goals rule would not be applied for the first time since the last edition.
Nine teams automatically qualified to the ASEAN Championship final tournament. They were separated in respective pots, based on performance of the last two editions.
Brunei and East Timor, the two lowest-performing teams will play a two-legged qualifier to determine the 10th and final qualifier.
The pot placements followed each team's progress based on the two previous editions. If the results are equal, the most recent tournament will be given priority.
At the time of the draw, the identity of the team that secured qualification was unknown and was automatically placed into Pot 5.
The ranking of teams in each group is determined by the points obtained in all group matches. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria are used to determine the ranking:
Most points obtained in the group matches played between the teams concerned;
Superior goal difference in the group matches played between the teams concerned;
Most goals scored in the group matches played between the teams concerned;
If, after having applied criteria a to c, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria a to c are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams who are still level to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria d to h apply.
Superior goal difference in all group matches;
Most goals scored in all group matches;
Highest team conduct ("fair play") score in all group matches (only one deduction can be applied to a player or team coach/official in a single match):
Yellow card: −1 point;
Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
Direct red card: −4 points;
Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Group winners and runners-up will advance to the semi-finals.
In the knockout stage, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match is decided by a penalty shoot-out.
