1998 AFF Championship


The 1998 AFF Championship, officially known as the 1998 Tiger Cup, was the second edition of the AFF Championship. It was held in Vietnam from 26 August to 5 September 1998.
Thailand had been the defending champions, but lost to Vietnam in the semi-finals.
The unfancied Singapore national team won the tournament by a 1–0 victory against Vietnam in the finals to take their first title.

Qualification

Four teams qualified directly to the finals.
Four teams qualified via the qualification process.

  • Venues

Squads

Final tournament

  • ''All times are UTC+7.''

    Group stage

Group A

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Group B

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Knockout stage

Semi-finals

Third place play-off

Final

Award

Most Valuable PlayerGolden Boot

Goalscorers

;4 goals
;3 goals
;2 goals
;1 goal
;1 own goal
This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.

Controversy

This tournament was marred by unsportsmanlike conduct in a match between Thailand and Indonesia during the group stage.
Indonesia was already assured of qualification for the semi-finals, while Thailand would also advance if they did not lose and the Philippines did not lose to Myanmar by enough for Myanmar to steal the runners up spot. However, both teams also knew that the winners of the match would face hosts Vietnam in the semi-finals, while the losing team would face surprise group winners Singapore, who were perceived to be easier opposition, and would also avoid the inconvenience of moving their team's training base from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi for the semi-finals.
The first half saw little action, with both teams barely making any attempt to score. During the second half both teams managed to score, resulting in a 2–2 score after 90 minutes: during injury time and despite two Thai attackers attempting to stop him, Indonesian defender Mursyid Effendi deliberately scored an own goal, thus handing Thailand a 3–2 victory. FIFA subsequently fined both teams $40,000 for "violating the spirit of the game", while Mursyid was banned from domestic football for one year and from international football for life.
Ironically in the semi-finals, Indonesia lost to Singapore, while Thailand lost to Vietnam. Singapore would then win the Championship.