ASEAN U-19 Championship: JDT Contributes 15 Players To 23-man Squad

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 (Bernama) -- A total of 15 players from Johor Darul Ta'zim FC (JDT) dominate the final 23-man squad selected to represent the country at the 2026 ASEAN Under-19 Championship in Medan from June 1 to 13.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), in a statement today, said that of the 15 players, eight are from JDT III and seven from JDT IV.

According to FAM, most of the players selected by head coach Mohd Nafuzi Zain are aged 18 or 19, while JDT IV striker Arayyan Hakeem Norizam is the youngest player in the squad at 17.

“The 2026 ASEAN U-19 Championship, which will be held at three venues — Teladan Stadium, Madya Stadium 1 and North Sumatra Main Stadium — will feature 11 teams, with hosts and defending champions Indonesia drawn in Group A alongside Vietnam, Timor-Leste and Myanmar.

“Group B features last edition’s finalists Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, while Group C comprises three teams — Australia, Cambodia and the Philippines,” FAM said.

Malaysia, who emerged champions in the 2018 and 2022 editions, will begin their campaign against Singapore on June 2, followed by a match against Brunei on June 5 before completing their group fixtures against Thailand on June 8.

Only the group winners and the best second-placed team will advance to the semi-finals.

In the previous edition in 2024 in Surabaya, the national U-19 squad, then coached by Juan Torres Garrido, finished fourth after losing to Australia in a penalty shootout.

The Malaysian squad:

-- BERNAMA