2026 MFL Challenge Cup
| Piala Cabaran MFL 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | Malaysia |
| Date | 6 February 2026 – 19 April 2026 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 26 (2.17 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | (2 goals) Douglas Coutinho Enzo Célestine Fadhil Idris Fergus Tierney Stefano Brundo |
All statistics correct as of 11 March 2026. | |
The 2026 MFL Challenge Cup is the fifth edition of Malaysia Challenge Cup tournament organised by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and Malaysian Football League (MFL). The tournament began on 6 February 2026 and ended on 19 April 2026.
Selangor were defending champions, defeated PDRM in the final with 7–0 on aggregate.[1][2] They were unable to defend their title after advancing to the quarter-finals of Malaysia Cup knockout stage.
Qualifying rounds
A total of 8 teams competed in the knockout phase, which the eight losers of the Malaysia Cup round of 16 will participate into the tournament.[3]
The qualified teams will compete on the knockout stage to compete in a two-legged single-elimination tournament beginning with the quarter-finals followed by semi-finals and the final. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.
Teams
All 8 teams eliminated from the Malaysia Cup round of 16 will enter the tournament.[3] List of the teams are shown below:
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Losers of round of 16 enter 2026 MFL Challenge Cup |
| Team |
|---|
| Immigration |
| Kelantan Red Warrior |
| Kelantan The Real Warriors |
| PDRM |
| Penang |
| Perak |
| Sabah |
| UM-Damansara United |
Format
Each tie in the knockout phase was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, then 30 minutes of extra time was played (the away goals rule was not applied). If the score was still level at the end of extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
- In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner would be designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).
Schedule
The schedule was as follows (all draws were held at the Malaysian Football League headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor).[4]
| Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter-finals | 6–8 February 2026 | 13–16 February 2026 |
| Semi-finals | 3–4 March 2026 | 11 March 2026 |
| Final | 4 April 2026 | 19 April 2026 |
Knockout-stage
Bracket
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Immigration | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Kelantan The Real Warriors | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Kelantan The Real Warriors | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Penang | 5 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Kelantan Red Warrior | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Penang | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Penang | |||||||||||||||||
| Sabah | |||||||||||||||||
| UM-Damansara United | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Perak (a.e.t.) | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Perak | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Sabah | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Sabah | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| PDRM | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 6, 7 and 8 February, and the second legs were played on 13, 14, 15 and 16 February 2026.[5]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UM-Damansara United | 2–4 | Perak | 0–1 | 2–3 (a.e.t.) |
| Immigration | 2–4 | Kelantan The Real Warriors | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Kelantan Red Warrior | 0–1 | Penang | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Sabah | 3–1 | PDRM | 2–0 | 1–1 |
Matches
- First leg
| UM-Damansara United | 0–1 | Perak |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
- Second leg
Perak won 4–2 on aggregate.
- First leg
- Second leg
Kelantan The Real Warriors won 4–2 on aggregate.
- First leg
- Second leg
| Penang | 1–0 | Kelantan Red Warrior |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Penang won 1–0 on aggregate.
- First leg
- Second leg
Sabah won 3–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 3 and 4 March, and the second legs were played on 11 March 2026.[6]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelantan The Real Warriors | 2–6 | Penang | 2–5 | 0–1 |
| Perak | 0–1 | Sabah | 0–0 | 0–1 |
Matches
- First leg
| Kelantan The Real Warriors | 2–5 | Penang |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
- Second leg
| Penang | 1–0 | Kelantan The Real Warriors |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Penang won 6–2 on aggregate.
- First leg
- Second leg
Sabah won 1–0 on aggregate.
Final
The first leg was played on 4 April, and the second leg was played on 19 April 2026.[7]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penang | – | Sabah | 4 Apr | 19 Apr |
Matches
- First leg
- Second leg
| Sabah | v | Penang |
|---|---|---|
Winner
| 2026 MFL Challenge Cup |
|---|
| To be determined |
Statistics
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[8] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enzo Célestine | Kelantan The Real Warriors | 2 |
| Stefano Brundo | Penang | ||
| Douglas Coutinho | Penang | ||
| Fadhil Idris | Perak | ||
| Fergus Tierney | Sabah | ||
| 6 | Babacar Guèye | Immigration | 1 |
| Eduardo Sosa | Immigration | ||
| Asraff Aliffuddin | Kelantan The Real Warriors | ||
| Azwan Aripin | Kelantan The Real Warriors | ||
| Danial Haqim | Kelantan The Real Warriors | ||
| Farris Izdiham | Kelantan The Real Warriors | ||
| Fakhrul Azim | PDRM | ||
| Dylan Wenzel-Halls | Penang | ||
| Shamie Iszuan | Penang | ||
| OJ Porteria | Penang | ||
| Amirul Aiman | Perak | ||
| Hafizy Daniel | Perak | ||
| Gabriel Peres | Sabah | ||
| Dane Ingham | Sabah | ||
| Shafizi Iqmal | UM-Damansara United | ||
| Wan Kuzri | UM-Damansara United |
Own goals
| Player | Team | Against | Date | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | TBC 2026 | TBC |
See also
Notes
- ^ Kelantan The Real Warriors played their home matches at Selayang Municipal Council Stadium, Selayang, instead of their regular home stadium Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium, Kota Bharu.
References
- ^ Hakim, Ammar (22 February 2025). "MFL Challenge Cup: Selangor cipta sejarah, dinobat sebagai juara". stadiumastro.com. Stadium Astro. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ Suhaimi, Muhamad Ardie Putra (22 February 2025). "Piala Cabaran: Selangor FC juara, belasah PDRM FC 7-0". kosmo.com.my. Kosmo. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Undian Piala Malaysia Melibatkan 16 Pasukan". malaysianfootballleague.com. Malaysian Football League. 31 December 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
- ^ "Kemaskini Jadual Liga Malaysia 2025-2026" (PDF). malaysianfootballleague.com. Malaysian Football League. 5 November 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
- ^ "Pemakluman Jadual Perlawanan Suku Akhir MFL Challenge Cup 2025–2026" (PDF). malaysianfootballleague.com. Malaysian Football League. 29 January 2026. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
- ^ "Pemakluman Jadual Perlawanan Separuh Akhir MFL Challenge Cup 2025–2026" (PDF). malaysianfootballleague.com. Malaysian Football League. 24 February 2026. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ "Pemakluman Jadual Perlawanan Akhir MFL Challenge Cup 2025–2026" (PDF). malaysianfootballleague.com. Malaysian Football League. 12 March 2026. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
- ^ "List Top Scorers MFL Challenge Cup 2026". fam.org.my. Football Association of Malaysia. 11 March 2026. Retrieved 12 March 2026.