The 2026 MFL Challenge Cup is the fifth edition of Malaysia Challenge Cup tournament organised by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and Malaysian Football League (MFL). The tournament began on 6 February 2026 and ended on 19 April 2026.
Selangor were defending champions, defeated PDRM in the final with 7–0 on aggregate. They were unable to defend their title after advancing to the quarter-finals of Malaysia Cup knockout stage.
Qualifying rounds A total of 8 teams competed in the knockout phase, which the eight losers of the Malaysia Cup round of 16 will participate into the tournament.
The qualified teams will compete on the knockout stage to compete in a two-legged single-elimination tournament beginning with the quarter-finals followed by semi-finals and the final. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.
Teams All 8 teams eliminated from the Malaysia Cup round of 16 will enter the tournament. List of the teams are shown below: Key to coloursLosers of round of 16 enter 2026 MFL Challenge Cup +Malaysia Cup Round of 16TeamImmigrationKelantan Red WarriorKelantan The Real WarriorsPDRMPenangPerakSabahUM-Damansara United
Format Each tie in the knockout phase was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, then 30 minutes of extra time was played (the away goals rule was not applied). If the score was still level at the end of extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows: In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner would be designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).
Schedule The schedule was as follows (all draws were held at the Malaysian Football League headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor). RoundFirst legSecond legQuarter-finals6–8 February 202613–16 February 2026Semi-finals3–4 March 202611 March 2026Final4 April 202619 April 2026
Knockout-stage Bracket In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis.
Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 6, 7 and 8 February, and the second legs were played on 13, 14, 15 and 16 February 2026.
Matches First leg
Second leg
Perak won 4–2 on aggregate.
First leg
Second leg
Kelantan The Real Warriors won 4–2 on aggregate.
First leg
Second leg
Penang won 1–0 on aggregate.
First leg
Second leg
Sabah won 3–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 3 and 4 March, and the second legs were played on 11 March 2026.
Matches First leg
Second leg
Penang won 6–2 on aggregate.
First leg
Second leg
Sabah won 1–0 on aggregate.
Final
The first leg was played on 4 April, and the second leg was played on 19 April 2026.
Matches First leg
Second leg
1–1 on aggregate. Sabah won 4–3 on penalties.
Champions of 2026 MFL Challenge CupSabahFirst Title
Statistics Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Enzo Célestine Kelantan The Real Warriors2 Stefano Brundo Penang Dylan Wenzel-Halls Penang Douglas Coutinho Penang Fadhil Idris Perak Gabriel Peres Sabah Fergus Tierney Sabah8 Babacar Guèye Immigration1 Eduardo Sosa Immigration Asraff Aliffuddin Kelantan The Real Warriors Azwan Aripin Kelantan The Real Warriors Danial Haqim Kelantan The Real Warriors Farris Izdiham Kelantan The Real Warriors Fakhrul Azim PDRM Shamie Iszuan Penang OJ Porteria Penang Amirul Aiman Perak Hafizy Daniel Perak Dane Ingham Sabah Shafizi Iqmal UM-Damansara United Wan Kuzri UM-Damansara United
See also 2025 Piala Sumbangsih 2025 Malaysia FA Cup 2026 Malaysia Cup 2025–26 Malaysia Super League
Notes
References
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