PH booters drop close ASEAN Cup opener vs Thailand

The Philippine men’s football team put up a brave stand before absorbing a narrow 1-0 defeat against Vietnam to open its campaign in the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung, Indonesia on Saturday, Sept. 26

Although it was the defending champions who scored the breakthrough goal at the 25th minute mark, the Filipinos enjoyed much of the possessions and gave the Vietnamese some tense moments all match long.

Nguyen Dinh Bac found the back of the net off a rebound to give his team the lone goal of the match and the full three points.

The win, however, did not come without a huge scare as the PH booters had several chances to equalize — the closest a Kenji Nishioka attempt off a cross from Sandro Reyes at the 83rd mark of the rain-delayed contest.

The ball actually went in for Nishioka but was nullified for an offside call following a VAR review.

That wasn’t the lone chance for the Filipinos as Randy Schneider also fired a long shot that only hit the crossbar at the 23rd minute mark.

The Philippines had one last attempt to equalize when Sebastian Rasmussen had a header inside the box only to be blocked by Vietnam ‘keeper Le Giang Patrick.

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