Changes in the AFF Cup Format from Season to Season, from Single Host to Home-and-Away

ASEAN Championship 2026 (Instagram/AFF)

YOGYAKARTA - The Southeast Asian football tournament AFF was first held in 1996 with the name Tiger Cup. This competition has been renamed several times until it is known as the ASEAN Championship. In addition to name changes, the match format has also been adjusted many times. For more details, the following will discuss the changes in the AFF format from time to time.

The Journey of the Changing Format of the AFF from One Era to Another

AFF was first held in 1996 with a single host format. The same was true of the two editions after that, namely in 1998 and 2000. In this format, all matches, from the group stage to the final, are held in one country so that the atmosphere of the competition is centralized.

Changes began to be seen in the 2002 edition when AFF introduced the concept of two hosts for the group stage. Even so, the semi-final and final matches are still centered on one stadium. At that time, Indonesia and Singapore were hosts, but the semi-final-final matches were held at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

Then in the 2004 edition, AFF made a breakthrough by implementing a two-leg system for the semifinals and finals. This means that each team has the opportunity to play at home and away in the match. However, the match for the third place is still one leg.

Entering the 2007 edition, AFF again made adjustments by removing the third-place match, and it has remained in place until now. Meanwhile, the two-leg format for the semifinals and finals remains maintained.

The period from 2007 to 2016 can be said to have no significant changes. In this range, the group stage still uses two host countries, while the semifinals and finals take place in two legs.

Changes occurred again in the 2018 edition when AFF introduced the home-away system in the group stage. Each team gets the opportunity to play at home and travel to other countries.

In the 2020 edition, AFF returned to the earliest format, namely a competition with a single host. Even so, the two-leg system in the semifinals and finals was still maintained without bringing back the third-place match.

After that, AFF again used the home-away format in 2022, 2024, until this year's edition. Each country plays two home games and two away games in the group stage. Meanwhile, the semi-final and final rounds still use the two-leg system.

If you look at the long journey above, at least AFF has changed the format six times. Starting from the single host system, two hosts, to the format that gives every team the opportunity to perform at home. These changes show that AFF continues to adapt in order to improve the quality of the tournament.

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