The 2023 Merdeka Tournament was the 42nd edition of the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

which was organised by the

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM, ms, Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia responsible for organising the Malaysia national football team within the country. The Football Association of ...

. The tournament, which featured three participants, took place between 13 and 17 October.

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

emerged as the champion of the tournament for their first title after beating host

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

2–0 at the final.

Participating nations

The teams were announced by the

(FAM) in March 2023. The draw took place on 8 August 2023. However,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

later pulled out of the tournament due to the 2026 World Cup qualifying draws putting them in the same

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

with

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, later replaced by

. Due to the

2023 Israel–Hamas war } The ongoing armed conflict between Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups and Israel military forces began on 7 October 2023, 50 years after the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Hamas's coordinated surprise offensive, codenamed "Al-Aqsa Fl ...

has decided to withdraw three days prior to the tournament. The following are the

FIFA Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

of the participating national teams, as of 21 September 2023. * (97) (''withdrew'') * (101) (''withdrew'') * (102) * (110) * (134)

Venue

All matches were played at the

Bukit Jalil National Stadium The Bukit Jalil National Stadium (Malay: Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil) in Bukit Jalil, located in the National Sports Complex to the south of the city centre of Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium and t ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Malaysia.

Matches

Match rule

* 90 minutes. *

Penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

after a draw in 90 minutes. * Maximum of five substitutions.

Bracket

Semi-finals

Final

Winners

Goalscorers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merdeka Tournament

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

October 2023 sports events in Asia 2023 in Asian football