KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia have an uphill task to qualify for the final after losing 2-0 to Vietnam in the first leg of their 2026 ASEAN Cup semi-final clash at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras here last night. 

A Nguyen Xuan Son goal in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time and an own goal by Muhammad Faris Danish Asrul in the 86th minute have handed Vietnam the upper hand for Wednesday’s return leg at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi.

The first half was almost evenly contested, although neither the Harimau Malaya, coached by interim head coach Tan Cheng Hoe, nor the visitors set the pulses racing during the opening 30 minutes.

Malaysia finally fired the first salvo in the 35th minute when Vietnam goalkeeper Patrik Le Giang parried Muhammad Faris Danish Asrul’s low cross and the ball fell to midfielder Daryl Sham K. George, whose shot, however, sailed over the bar.

Vietnam then came alive towards the end of the first half, with striker Xuan Son’s acrobatic effort going wide to the left, while winger Nguyen Dinh Bac’s attempt from outside the penalty area went straight into the arms of goalkeeper Muhammad Azri Ab Ghani.

The Golden Dragons finally broke the deadlock when Xuan Son met a cross from winger Truong Tien Anh with a diving header in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time.