Bangkok to host Malaysia-North Korea Asian Cup qualifier ties

The Asian Cup qualifier between Malaysia and North Korea will finally be played, not in either countries but in Bangkok, Thailand.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) made the announcement today that both fixtures of the North Korea v Malaysia and Malaysia v North Korea will be played on neutral ground. The former fixture had been previously postponed several times due to various reasons.

“We are extremely grateful for the continued support by the Football Association of Thailand in agreeing to play host for these two matches. The FA of Thailand has ensured that the AFC has been able to maintain the sporting integrity of the AFC Asian Cup qualifying," said Dato’ Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary.

The first match will be played on 10th November with the second match on 13th November. North Korea are the designated host for the first match while Malaysia will host the second match.

Neither the venue nor the match kick-off times have been confirmed yet.

North Korea and Malaysia are currently occupying the bottom two places of Group B, where the top two finishers will make it to the final rounds in Qatar in 2019.

Both teams have yet to win any of their matches in the group that also comprises of Lebanon and Hong Kong.

With only one point from three matches, Eduardo Vingada and Malaysia will need to win at least one of these matches against North Korea to stand any chance to reach the finals.