The 2020 AFF Championship (officially AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the 7th and the last edition sponsored by Suzuki.
The final tournament was originally scheduled to run from 23 November to 31 December 2020. However, the tournament was postponed and rescheduled at least twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tournament was first rescheduled to run from 11 April to 8 May 2021 and the schedule later pushed backed further to 5 December 2021 to 1 January 2022. Singapore was chosen as host of the tournament in a centralised location.
Vietnam were the defending champions, but were eliminated by their rivals, Thailand in the semi-finals. Thailand won the tournament by a 6–2 victory in the two-legged final against Indonesia to secure their sixth title.
Format The AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 was hosted in a centralized venue due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia. On 28 September 2021, it was announced that Singapore would host the tournament. Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam also expressed interest in hosting the tournament.
In the group stage of the competition proper, ten teams were drawn in two groups of five with single round-robin format. The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals.
The organizers preferred to hold the tournament under its original format, which featured two-leg home-and-away games. Away goals rule was not applied for this tournament.
Up to five substitutions may be allowed as per recommendation of FIFA.
Qualification
Nine teams automatically qualified to the AFF Championship final tournament; they were separated into their respective pots based on their performance of the last two editions. Brunei and Timor-Leste who were the two lowest-performing teams were supposed to play a match where the winner will secure a spot to the final tournament but Brunei withdrew citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia applied to attend the 2020 AFF Championship but was rejected by the AFF.
Due to non-compliance with conditions set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Thailand and Indonesia were not allowed to be represented by their national flags.
Qualified teams TeamAppearance Previous best performance 8thGroup Stage (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2018) 13thRunners-up (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016) 12thGroup Stage (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018) 13thWinners (2010) 13thFourth place / Semi-finalists (2004, 2016) 12thSemi-finalists (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018) 13thWinners (1998, 2004, 2007, 2012) 13thWinners (1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016) 3rdGroup Stage (2004, 2018) 13thWinners (2008, 2018)
Notes
Draw The draw for the 2020 AFF Championship was originally set to be held on 10 August 2021 in Singapore but due to the enhanced COVID-19 restrictions in the country, the draw was postponed. The draw was done virtually and held on 21 September 2021. The pot placements followed each teams progress in the previous two editions.
At the time of the draw, the identity of the national team that secured qualification was unknown, as it was supposed to be contested between Brunei and Timor Leste. Timor Leste qualified to the group stage after the withdrawal of Brunei from the qualification play-off.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5
Squads
Each team were allowed a preliminary squad of 50 players. A final squad of 30 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) 23 players registered for each match.
Officials The following officials were chosen for the competition.
Referees
Ammar Ebrahim Mahfoodh Ahmed Faisal Al-Ali Ahmad Yaqoub Ibrahim Kim Dae-yong Kim Hee-gon Nazmi Nasaruddin Qasim Al-Hatmi Yaqoob Abdul Baki Saoud Ali Al-Adba Shukri Al-Hunfush Mohammed Al-Hoaish Ahmad A'Qashah
Assistant referees
Salman Ebrahim Nurhadi Sulchan Ahmand Mansour Samara Muhsen Hamzah Adel Abu-Obaid Park Kyun-yong Kang Dong-ho Saif Talib Al-Ghafri Abu Bakar Al-Amri Zahy Snaid Al-Shammari Jasem Abdulla Yousef Faisal Nasser Al-Qahtani Rawut Nakarit
Venues Kallang Bishan National Stadium Bishan Stadium Capacity: 55,000 Capacity: 6,254
Group stage
Tiebreakers Ranking in each group shall be determined as follows: Greater number of points obtained in all the group matches; Goal difference in all the group matches; Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches. If two or more teams are equal on the basis on the above three criteria, the place shall be determined as follows: Result of the direct match between the teams concerned; Penalty shoot-out if only the teams are tied, and they met in the last round of the group; Drawing lots by the Organising Committee.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Bracket
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Indonesia won 5–3 on aggregate.
Thailand won 2–0 on aggregate.
Final
First leg
Second leg
Thailand won 6–2 on aggregate.
Statistics Winner 2020 AFF Championship6th title
Awards Most Valuable PlayerYoung Player of the TournamentTop Scorer AwardFair Play Award Chanathip Songkrasin Pratama Arhan Safawi Rasid Bienvenido Marañón Chanathip Songkrasin Teerasil Dangda
Goalscorers
Discipline In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. PlayerOffencesSuspensions Ken Chansopheak in Group B v Malaysia in Group B v VietnamTeam already eliminated from tournament Ramai Rumakiek in Group B v Cambodia in Group B v MalaysiaSemi-finals 1st-leg v Singapore Pratama Arhan in Semi-finals 1st-leg v Singapore in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v SingaporeFinals 1st-leg v Thailand Aphixay Thanakhanty in Group B v Malaysia in Group B v IndonesiaGroup B v Cambodia Nyein Chan in Group A v Singapore in Group A v PhilippinesTeam already eliminated from tournament Stephan Schröck in Group A v Singapore in Group A v ThailandGroup A v Myanmar Martin Steuble in Group A v Thailand in Group A v MyanmarTeam already eliminated from tournament Safuwan Baharudin in Semi-finals 1st-leg v Indonesia in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v IndonesiaTeam already eliminated from tournament Irfan Fandi in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v IndonesiaTeam already eliminated from tournament Hassan Sunny in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v IndonesiaTeam already eliminated from tournament Theerathon Bunmathan in Semi-finals 1st leg v Vietnam in Semi-finals 2nd-leg v VietnamFinals 1st-leg v Indonesia
In addition, 4 Indonesian players (Elkan Baggott, Victor Igbonefo, Rizky Ridho and Rizky Dwi Febrianto) were barred from the 2nd leg of the Indonesia-Thailand Final on 1 January 2022 for breaching COVID-19 safety measures by leaving the team hotel without authorisation.
Tournament teams ranking This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.
Marketing Matchballs The official ball for AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 is the ASEAN PULSE, which is sponsored by Warrix.
Sponsorship Title sponsorOfficial sponsorsOfficial supporters Suzuki Oppo Bioré G-Shock Midea Yanmar Acecook Coocaa Fuji Electric Herbalife Nutrition Jinro Mitsubishi Electric Pinaco TMGM
Media coverage 2020 AFF Championship television broadcasters in Southeast Asia Country Broadcast network Television Radio Streaming RTB RTB Aneka Smart Axiata Hang Meas HDTV MNC Media, EmtekRCTI (Indonesian matches only), iNews (FTA), (Pay) , Vision+, Vidio Next Media Astro, RTM Astro Arena, Sukan RTM Next Media TAP DMV Premier Sport (Pay) TAP Go Mediacorp meWATCH BBTV CH7 Bugaboo, AIS Play RTTL TVTL VTV, Next MediaVTV5, VTV6On 365 FMTV360, VTVcab ON, FPT Play 2020 AFF Championship international television broadcasters InternationalYouTubeAFF Suzuki Cup(unsold markets only)Hong Kong Cable Television Seoul Broadcasting SystemSBS, SBS Sports (Indonesian and Vietnamese matches only)
Notes
Sources Thailand: Indonesia:
References
External links AFF Suzuki Cup Official website ASEAN Federation Official website