KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — The second leg of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asia Cup qualifier between Harimau Malaya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will take place at the Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai on March 26.

This was confirmed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) through a posting on their official website www.the-afc.com today.

After facing a tough challenge against the world-ranked 71st team, Tan Cheng Hoe’s boys will take on Vietnam (94th in the world) at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on March 31 before ending their Group G campaign against Thailand in Bangkok on June 9.

Malaysia, ranked 154th in the world, will first face a warm-up match against Bahrain at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town on March 21.

After five matches, Malaysia is in second place with nine points while Vietnam leads the chart with 11 points, Thailand in third spot with eight points, UAE (6) and Indonesia at the bottom without any point.

Only group champions and four (five if Qatar qualifies) out of eight group runner-ups will advance to the third round of Qatar World Cup qualifiers, as well as gain automatic slots for the Asian Cup in China.

In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers campaign, Malaysia under then-head coach Dollah Salleh suffered the worst defeat in history when they were beaten 0-10 by the UAE at the Mohamed Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

However, during the last September match at Bukit Jalil, the national squad came close to surprise the visitors after they took the lead before losing the game 1-2. — Bernama