Xuan Son’s brace seals Vietnam’s 4-0 aggregate win over Malaysia

Vietnam finished the job in Hanoi, beating Malaysia 2-0 in the second leg of the 2026 ASEAN Hyundai Cup semifinal on August 19. Having won the first leg 2-0 in Kuala Lumpur, the defending champions advanced 4-0 on aggregate and booked a place in the final against Thailand.

The decisive figure was Nguyễn Xuân Son. Introduced in the 58th minute, the striker scored twice in the second half to break Malaysia’s resistance and put Vietnam firmly in control.

Xuan Son changes the game

Malaysia held Vietnam scoreless through the first half, with goalkeeper Azri Ghani making important saves to preserve the visitors’ hopes of overturning the two-goal deficit from the opening leg.

Vietnam coach Kim Sang-sik turned to Xuan Son in the 58th minute, and the change paid off almost immediately. Around five minutes later, the forward reacted quickest to a loose ball in the penalty area and finished after Trương Tiến Anh’s shot had been blocked. His positioning and fast reaction finally opened the scoring.

Xuan Son remained Vietnam’s biggest attacking threat. In the 89th minute, he powered down the left, held off a Malaysian defender and finished through Ghani’s legs to complete the 2-0 win.

Vietnam’s other substitutions helped the team maintain control after the breakthrough. At the other end, goalkeeper Patrik Lê Giang also produced important saves to protect Vietnam’s clean sheet.

Why the brace matters

The two goals took Xuan Son’s tournament tally to five, level with teammate Nguyễn Đình Bắc at the top of the ASEAN Hyundai Cup 2026 scoring chart, according to post-match reporting.

The brace also followed an influential performance in the first leg. Xuan Son opened the scoring in Kuala Lumpur with a stoppage-time diving header, while Malaysian defender Faris Danish later scored an own goal in Vietnam’s 2-0 victory.

That means Xuan Son directly scored three of Vietnam’s four goals across the semifinal, with the other goal coming from Faris Danish’s own goal.

Vietnam extend their unbeaten run

Vietnam had taken a 23-match unbeaten run under Kim Sang-sik into the return leg after winning in Kuala Lumpur. The victory in Hanoi extended that sequence to 24 matches.

The result also sent Vietnam into a third consecutive ASEAN Hyundai Cup final, according to tournament reporting. More broadly, the semifinal showed a side comfortable managing a knockout tie: Vietnam won away, kept clean sheets in both legs and only needed to accelerate after halftime in Hanoi to put the contest beyond doubt.

Malaysia’s uphill battle

Malaysia entered the second leg needing to win by at least three goals after losing 2-0 at home. That made the opening stages especially important, and holding Vietnam to a goalless first half kept the visitors alive in the tie in purely mathematical terms.

However, Malaysia could not maintain that defensive resistance once Xuan Son entered the match. Contemporary reporting described the Malaysian team as affected by injuries, but the supplied sources do not provide a complete list or detail the severity of individual absences. The precise impact of those injuries therefore cannot be established from the available evidence.

Thailand await in the final

Vietnam’s final opponent will be Thailand. The final will be played over two legs, with the first match scheduled for August 22. The supplied information does not confirm the venue for that match or the date and stadium for the return leg, so those details remain subject to official confirmation.

Vietnam will enter the final with Xuan Son in top form and a defense that has not conceded in either semifinal match. That gives the defending champions a strong platform, but Thailand will provide the next major test of their title defense.