Singapore drawn in same group as Malaysia, Vietnam for 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup

SINGAPORE: Singapore have been drawn in Group B of the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup and will face Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Defending champions Thailand will play in Group A against Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and a qualification round winner. Brunei and Timor-Leste will face off in a qualification round in November for the final spot in Group A.

The draw for the regional tournament, formerly known as the AFF Suzuki Cup, took place in Bangkok on Tuesday (Aug 30).

The tournament will take place from Dec 20 to Jan 16, 2023, with matches to be played in 10 cities across Southeast Asia in the same home-and-away format previously seen during the 2018 tournament, the organisers said.

Each team will play four group stage matches – two at home and two away – with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The semi-finals and final will be played over two legs.

The last edition of the tournament, held in Singapore from Dec 5, 2021, to Jan 1, 2022 saw Thailand claim their sixth title after a 6-2 aggregate win over Indonesia in the final.

Singapore were eliminated in the semi-finals after a 5-3 aggregate loss to Indonesia.

The Lions have won the tournament four times, with their last title coming a decade ago.

Originally known as the Tiger Cup from 1996 to 2004, the tournament was renamed the Suzuki Cup in 2008 after one staging as the ASEAN Football Championship in 2007.

Mitsubishi Electric took over as the tournament’s title sponsor in May.