YANGON (5 August 2026) – Myanmar coach Jørn Andersen is hoping his team can spring a surprise against former champions Thailand in their final Group B match in the ASEAN Hyundai Cup™ 2026 and advance to the knockout rounds after handing Laos a 7-2 defeat on Tuesday.
The win in Yangon, in which Win Naing Tun scored a hat-trick as Myanmar remained in contention for a semi-final berth, moved Andersen’s side onto six points from three matches to set up a pivotal meeting with the Thais in Bangkok on Saturday.
“I can see that the team are improving from match to match,” said Andersen, who was appointed several weeks before the start of the tournament. “We did not play badly in the opening games and created many chances, but we were unable to convert them.
“We then scored once against Malaysia, four times against the Philippines and seven times tonight. That shows the attacking side of the team is improving. Win Naing Tun scored three goals today, and I am very happy for him.
“The players are becoming more accustomed to creating chances, scoring goals and winning matches. That is exactly what we want in football.”
Victory over Thailand would take Myanmar into the last four for the first time since 2016 and Andersen believes his team, who will be without talismanic Maung Maung Lwin after he was sent off against Laos, will go into the meeting with few expectations on their shoulders.
“I told the players before today’s match that we had to win so that we could travel to Thailand without pressure,” he said. “The match against Thailand will now effectively be a group final.
“Should we win in Thailand, we can qualify for the next round. However, we are not under the same pressure as we would have been without tonight’s victory. Perhaps we can produce a surprise.
“We will prepare as well as possible, play without pressure and then see at the end which team has won.”
The result ended Laos’ involvement in the tournament with a fourth consecutive loss and coach Vladica Grujić admitting his team of mainly amateurs were unable to match the standards set by the other teams in the group.
“We also produced very good first-half performances against Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines,” Grujić said, having seen his side equalise twice against Myanmar before succumbing to a heavy loss. “We played some good football in those matches.
“However, football requires players to run and maintain their intensity. Many of my players also have jobs outside football, and it is very difficult for them to compete at this level.
“We were able to score twice tonight because we still had energy at that stage. At this level, everything happens at high intensity and great speed. The players are not accustomed to playing this type of football, which is understandable.” – aseanutdfc.com
