Thailand coach Anthony Hudson conceded Vietnam’s more experienced squad are the favourites to win the ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 ahead of the showdown between the teams in the first leg of the final at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on Saturday.
The Thais, who have won the title a record seven-times since the competition’s launch in 1996, will attempt to wrest the trophy back from Kim Sang-sik’s side after the Vietnamese defeated the War Elephants in the decider in the previous edition.
But, with Kim able to select a squad that features the nation's strongest line-up, Hudson believes the visitors for Saturday’s clash should be expected to retain the title and claim the country’s first back-to-back success.
“I think we know, coming into the tournament, that Vietnam have their full-strength team,” said Hudson. “They’ve been in camp for a couple of months in South Korea, three friendly matches, so I think we can all say that Vietnam, on paper right now, are the favourites.
“I think the expectation and the pressure on Vietnam is on them to win the game. The pressure’s clearly on them. We can say that honestly, it’s not mind games or me trying to put pressure on. It’s just the truth.”
Vietnam have impressed throughout the tournament, notching up a particularly eye-catching win over Indonesia in the group phase before handing Malaysia consecutive 2-0 defeats to book their place in the final.
In addition, strikers Nguyễn Xuân Son and Nguyễn Đình Bắc have scored five goals each to sit on top of the scorers’ charts with the final remaining, giving Hudson much to ponder ahead of the two-legged encounter.
The Englishman, though, believes his own squad, which features a mixture of experienced players and up-and-coming talent, has developed throughout the tournament, despite criticism of his selections prior to kick off.
“We’ve been able to improve the players’ fitness, we’ve been able to improve certain parts of our game, we’ve been able to get the results we needed to get to this final,” he said.
“In the beginning of the tournament, everyone wrote us off. Everything I read said: ‘The group’s no good’, ‘Why’s he picking this squad?’, ‘This team will not get out of the group’.
“The team, for me, have done an incredible job to get to this point, but when you get to a final anything can happen. The players have shown me in this tournament that they’ve been able to overcome some difficult moments.”
Hudson has sought to manage his squad’s exertions throughout the competition so far with Thailand emerging from the group stage having won all four of their matches without conceding.
That record took a hit in the semi-finals against Singapore, where Thailand won 3-1 on the road in the opener before slipping to a 2-1 loss – their first to the Lions since 2012 – but the aggregate result was still enough for Hudson’s team to advance.
“We also have qualities in our team that we know they can go out there and get a win for Thailand,” said Hudson.
“We believe that but I think we can all accept, and this is the part everyone will probably smash (me for), but it’s true, and it’s not playing mind games, that Vietnam are expected to win this game.
“But we’re excited for this challenge. Tomorrow will be our biggest game of the tournament. It has to be.”
In 15 previous ASEAN Championship encounters between Thailand and Vietnam, Thailand have won seven matches, Vietnam have won four matches and four matches ended in draws. Both teams have met in the final on three occasions where Vietnam have recorded three wins, including a 3-2 win in the 2024 second leg, final in Bangkok, Thailand have won one and two matches ended in draws.
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