Vietnam qualify for 2027 Asian Cup after Malaysia's victories overturned

Malaysia's victories against Vietnam and Nepal in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers have been overturned to default 0-3 losses, according to a decision from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s Disciplinary and Ethics Committee on March 17.

This decision means that the Vietnam national football team has now qualified for the continental tournament in Saudi Arabia. The 3-0 awarded victory, along with Malaysia's deduction of six points, puts Kim Sang-sik's team top of Group F with 15 points, six points ahead of Malaysia and with only one game left to play.

A media release by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) on March 17 stated: "The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has received the decision from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Disciplinary & Ethics Committee, which convened on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, regarding the case of fielding ineligible players.

"The meeting, chaired by the Chairman of the AFC Disciplinary & Ethics Committee, Jahangir Baglari, found that FAM had violated Article 56 of the AFC Disciplinary & Ethics Code by fielding ineligible players in the following two 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers matches... Accordingly, the AFC Disciplinary & Ethics Committee has decided that Malaysia is declared to have lost by a score of 3-0 in both matches based on Article 25.1 of the AFC Disciplinary & Ethics Code."

The media release also stated that the FAM was also fined 50,000 USD.

The AFC's verdict comes after a lengthy nine-month process that started with an investigation by FIFA on the origins of Malaysia's seven newly naturalised players: Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazábal and Hector Hevel.

The FAM was found on September 26, 2025, to have breached Article 22 of FIFA's disciplinary code, relating to 'having used forged and/or falsified documents in FIFA proceedings', concerning the eligibility documents of the seven players. These players participated in the two AFC Asian Cup qualification matches, namely a 2-0 win against Nepal and a 4-0 win against Vietnam.

The FAM has been ordered to pay a fine of 350,000 Swiss francs (437,000 USD) to FIFA, while the seven players were each fined 2,000 Swiss francs and handed a 12-month suspension from all football-related activities.

A detailed report by FIFA's Ethics Committee released on October 6 revealed that the original birthplaces of the players’ grandparents had been 'doctored'. This meant that FAM and the players, who hail from Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain, had used falsified documents to claim eligibility for Malaysia’s national team.

According to current FIFA eligibility rules stated in Article 7 of the FIFA statute, players are only permitted to play for a country's national team if they are born in that country, have parents or grandparents born in that country, or have lived continuously for five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of that country.

Malaysia lodged a complaint on October 15, 2025, but was rejected by FIFA on November 3. Furthermore, in December 2025, Malaysia's friendly matches between Singapore, Cape Verde and Palestine were all overturned by FIFA to 0-3 losses.

The FAM launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in January, and the CAS delayed FIFA's 12-month ban for the seven players until March 5, when the CAS itself rejected the FAM's appeal, upholding FIFA's original decision.

Vietnam and Malaysia will go head-to-head on March 31 in the final match of their 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification group stage, with the fates of the teams already sealed./.