Malaysia made it two wins out of two matches in Group D of the Preliminary Joint Qualification - Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ following a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Chinese Taipei at Taipei Municipal Stadium on Tuesday.
Kim Pan-gon's side, who earned a late 4-3 victory against Kyrgyz Republic in their second-round opener, had to wait until the 72nd minute to find the winner through substitute Darren Lok to maintain their perfect start to the qualification campaign while Chinese Taipei have now lost two from two after their opening-day defeat to Oman.
Captain Cools was at the end of another chance for Malaysia in the 26th minute when La'Vere Corbin-Ong headed the ball into his path but the Buriram United centre-back failed to keep his shot down. Two minutes later, Akhyar danced past two defenders inside the box only to be let down by his finish again.
Chinese Taipei goalkeeper Pan Wen-chieh then produced a good save to deny Stuart Wilkin’s thunderous volley from outside the box in the 40th minute as the Harimau Malaya continued to dominate the first-half proceedings.
Finding himself with plenty of space inside the box in the 43rd minute, Faisal dinked the ball over shot-stopper Pan but missed the target in Malaysia’s final chance of the first half as the match remained goalless at the halfway point.
Just six minutes into the restart, Akhyar passed up a gilt-edged chance when a Chen Ting-yang clearance fell to him inside the box, but the Johor Darul Ta’zim winger’s shot from close range failed to hit the target.
Malaysia head coach Kim introduced Endrick and Lok from the bench around the hour mark in the hope of breaking the deadlock, but their woes in front of the goal continued as Cools failed to hit the target with a header with the goal gaping in the 72nd minute.
But the two substitutes were then involved in Malaysia’s match-winning goal as Endrick’s shot from the edge of the box was saved by Pan only for Lok to score on the rebound to make it 1-0 to the visitors with a strike that ultimately sealed all three points.
Malaysia will next travel to Muscat to take on Oman when the qualification campaign resumes on March 21 next year while Chinese Taipei will host Kyrgyz Republic in their next Group D fixture on the same day
AFC
Kyrgyz Republic reignited their Preliminary Joint Qualification - Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ campaign after an outstanding 1-0 win over Oman on Tuesday.
Stefan Tarkovic’s team were the better side at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium and deserved their first three points in Group D, showing great character to bounce back from the disappointment of losing 4-3 to Malaysia on Matchday One.
