THE 2025-2026 AFC Challenge League qualifier will be held as a one-day event on 12 August, with the Myanmar club Yangon United competing against the Lao club EZRA.
Two Myanmar clubs have qualified to participate in the current season’s AFC Challenge League. The 2024-2025 MNL points competition champion, Shan United, has earned direct entry to the final stage, while Yangon United, the runner-up, must start from the qualifying round. The AFC Challenge League qualifiers will be held across two zones, with four matches in the East Asia zone and five matches in the West Asia zone.
The Myanmar club, Yangon United, will compete in the East Asia zone qualifiers. Although they were originally scheduled to play away matches, because the Laos club cannot host matches at home, the qualifiers will be held as a single event with Yangon United hosting the matches, giving them a home advantage.
Yangon United and the Lao club EZRA will play the qualifier match at the Thuwunna Youth Training Centre in Yangon at 4 pm on 12 August. The Lao club EZRA has previously faced Myanmar clubs in two international club competitions. On 9 August, they played against Shan United and lost narrowly with a score of 2-1 in the ASEAN Club Championship qualifier. They will play the second leg again on 15 August at the Thuwunna Youth Training Centre.
A press conference before the qualifier match took place in the press conference hall of the YTC in Thuwunna on 11 August, attended by head coaches and captains of both teams.
Yangon United head coach U Kyaw Dun said, “This match is the closest one to us after the League Cup ended. It is very important. We have to play at our home ground, and it is a single-leg match. Both the team management officials and players understand how important this match is, so we will prepare thoroughly and play hard.”
Team captain David Htan stated, “All the players have studied and prepared well according to the coach’s instructions. We are ready to compete unitedly in tomorrow’s match, and we will compete for the best possible result.”
EZRA team head coach Byung Soo Na said, “It’s very challenging to face strong Myanmar clubs like Yangon United and Shan United within a short period. Our team mostly consists of Lao national players, but we have also recruited players from South Korea and Japan. This helps reduce injury problems when playing in different competitions and enables us to face our opponents at our best. The main difference between the teams is the ability to recruit good foreign players. For us, tomorrow’s match is our first at the AFC level, and we have prepared to perform at our best.” — Ko Nyi Lay/TTA
