Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
The Malaysian national team suffered defeat in the 2026 World Cup Qualification match when competing at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium, Muscat, Thursday (21/3), local time.
Malaysia, which has always won in its two previous 2026 World Cup Qualification Group D matches, over Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan, failed to gain points for the first time.
The Harimau Malaya squad is strengthened by a number of main players who usually wear the Malaysian national team jersey, such as Syihan Hazmi, Dion Cools, Dominic Tan, Brendan Gan, Faisal Halim, and Romel Morales.
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After the match was a draw until halftime, Oman opened the scoring in the 58th minute through midfielder Issam Al Sabhi.
Oman, who failed to score a goal despite being quite dominant in controlling the match, did not repeat their mistakes in the first half. An Ali Al Busaidi kick which the Malaysian players failed to anticipate was put to good use by Al Sabhi.
Malaysia tried to respond. Morales and Corbin Ong had opportunities. Coach Kim Pan Gon then made a series of substitutions. Azam Azmi, Paulo Josue and Akhyar Rashid were introduced midway through the second half.
Malaysia, who was persistent in scoring an equalizer, scored a goal through Arif Aiman, but the referee annulled it for offside in the 81st minute.
Oman then doubled their lead in the 88th minute through Muhsen Al Ghassani who received Al Busaidi’s pass.
This defeat made Malaysia drop to third place in Group D standings, behind Oman and Kyrgyzstan. All three scored six points. Meanwhile, Taiwan became caretaker after competing three times without winning.
[Gambas:Video CNN]
(nva/nva)