Malaysia vs Philippines

Bukit Jalil National Stadium is the venue as Malaysia and the Philippines go head-to-head in an international friendly.

Malaysia’s faltering qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup got back on track last time out as they thrashed Chinese Taipei 3-1 at home to end a three-game winless run in Group D (D1, L2). Only two points adrift of second-placed Kyrgyzstan, Pau Marti Vicente’s men are still in contention for progression into the third qualification stage. Therefore, the Malayan Tiger must build momentum ahead of the qualification cycle’s resumption, and the game against the Philippines bodes well. After drawing their first four H2Hs, Malaysia ran out 2-0 victors the last time these two nations met in March 2022. However, connoisseurs of action-packed football may want to look elsewhere, considering all five previous matches between Malaysia and the Philippines have featured under 2.5 goals.

On the other hand, the Philippines’ hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup third qualification stage seem dead in the water after they lost five of their six matches in Group F by an aggregate score of 14-3. Norman Fegidero’s men head into proceedings amidst a disastrous spell of form, having lost four consecutive World Cup qualifiers. Three of those four defeats saw the Philippines fail to get on the scoresheet while they conceded at least twice in the last three. As if that’s not worrying enough, the Street Dogs have lost their four most recent away matches, three of which saw them fail to get on the scoresheet. All those three games contained under 2.5 goals, highlighting the potential for a low-scoring affair.