PETALING JAYA, June 10 — Taiwan has warned that they will not give an easy pass to Malaysia who are in desperate need of a big win in the final match of Group D in the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow night.
Their head coach Gary White strongly countered claims that they are headed for their biggest defeat in the group campaign as Malaysia aim to score at least seven goals to revive their chance of reaching the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers and qualifying early for the 2027 Asian Cup.
“Going to have our biggest loss? That’s really not something we talk about. You can ask Mr Kim (Pan Gon) about playing my team; my team is never easy. We’re not going to lie down. In fact, we want to win the game, so we don’t look at it as just participating.
“We’re here to win, and we’re going to give our very best. We’ll see it in the game — we let the players do the talking on the field. For us, we come here to try to make our own history,” he told the Malaysia-Taiwan pre-match press conference at Wisma FAM, Kelana Jaya here, today.
For the record, Taiwan suffered their biggest loss in March after being defeated 1-5 by Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek.
At the same time, White said the claim that Kim Pan Gon’s Malaysia could defeat Taiwan with a score of 8-0 was absurd, considering that the Harimau Malaya team only managed a 1-0 victory in their first encounter in Taipei November, last year.
“That’s a ridiculous statement from anybody I think, considering you just beat us 1-0 away in the 75th minute. We’ll see on the field. We are very serious about what we’re doing.
“It could be you (media) trying to create a situation maybe for publicity. If that’s good to get the fans out, then good job, keep going, because we want it to be a full stadium. We don’t want to come here and play in front of 20,000 (fans),” said the 49-year-old coach from England.
In the meantime, White said Taiwan will still line up the strongest team including bringing some potential young players to play Malaysia although without some players who have commitments with their respective clubs in the Chinese Super League.
Meanwhile, Taiwan captain Po-Liang Chen said the players are at their best to try to make history against Malaysia and it is the best opportunity for young Taiwanese players to gain experience on the international stage.
Malaysia are now in third place in Group D with seven points — three points behind second-placed Kyrgyzstan, who also have a goal difference advantage going into the final match while Oman top the group with 12 points and qualified for the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
In the final group matches, Malaysia, who have a minus two (-2) goal difference, will entertain Taiwan while Kyrgyzstan, with a +6 goal difference, will travel to Muscat to face Oman.
Should the team fail to advance to the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, Malaysia have to compete in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers for a chance to make their second consecutive appearance in the tournament. — Bernama
