There will be an Asean Football Federation (AFF) Hyundai Cup and then there will also be the FIFA Asean Cup.
Both competitions will involve the same set of national teams from all Southeast Asian nations.
On 29 March, FIFA announced that its inaugural FIFA Asean Cup is scheduled to take place from September to October 2026, just two months after the AFF Hyundai Cup.
This will take place during a three-week FIFA window from September to October.
In a media statement following an online Fifa Council meeting held at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, FIFA said that its council “approved the introduction of the FIFA Asean Cup, first presented to the Asean Summit in Malaysia in October 2025 to positive reception, with the first edition planned for September-October 2026”.
This new tournament was first announced in Kuala Lumpur in October 2025 during the ASEAN Summit after FIFA president Gianni Infantino signed a memorandum of understanding on football development on the sidelines of the Summit.
The AFF Hyundai Cup has been held once every two years since 1996, with Singapore playing hosts to the inaugural Tiger Cup then as it was called.
It is not known what will become of the AFF Hyundai Cup and if the FIFA Asean Cup will mean that the AFF will need to stand down its most lucrative commercial asset.
The AFF has not responded to the announcement by FIFA as yet.
MAIN PHOTO: FIFA