Malaysia - Malaysia Cup

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The Malaysia Cup, or Piala Malaysia as it’s known in Malay, is an annual cup competition held in none other than Malaysia. The tournament is one of Asia’s oldest competitions, beginning way back in 1926. Back then it was known as the Malaya Cup and was only contested by domestic state teams, military teams, and a few foreign sides such as Brunei and Singapore – domestic clubs were only granted participating rights in 2000.

The Malaysia Cup, which is run by the MFL, changed up its format in 2016. A total of 16 teams compete in this cup and the participants are the best 11 teams from the Malaysia Super League (the nation’s top-flight league) and five clubs from the Malaysia Premier League (the 2nd division). Once the contestants are identified, the clubs are divided into four groups of four in a double round-robin format, meaning each side will play the other three both home and away. Only the top two teams from each group progress to the knockout stage. The quarter-finals and semi-finals are held over two legs but the final is a one-off match.

Despite being the nation’s oldest cup, it is the country’s secondary cup tournament behind the Malaysia FA Cup. The competition typically kicks off in August and wraps up in October/November of that same year. For the 2020 edition, however, the MFL changed the schedule to October-November and scrapped its group-stage format for a knockout tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the time constraints the virus inflicted on world football.