Since the first World Cup was held in 1930, Malaysia has never qualified for the world's biggest football tournament. In fact, no representative from Southeast Asia has ever qualified with Indonesia coming closest in the 2026 World Cup qualifying round.
This morning while participating in an event to watch the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stated that Malaysia aspires to host the World Cup in the future. He also expressed his dream of seeing the Harimau Malaya squad qualify as a Southeast Asian representative in that edition.
His dream is very big because if it becomes a reality, Malaysia will be among the lowest ranked in the history of hosting. At this point, the Malaysian Harimau squad is ranked 136th out of 211 FIFA member countries. The record for the lowest ranked country to host is Russia which in 2018 was ranked 70th in the FIFA list.
The lowest ranked country to qualify for the World Cup was North Korea at 105th place in the 2010 Games. Perhaps Malaysia can work with its Southeast Asian neighbours to brighten its hopes of hosting the World Cup in the future.
Last June, TMJ Tunku Ismail ibni Sultan Ibrahim also expressed Johor's desire to host the World Cup because the Southern Lion state has international-level football facilities.
