Pan-gon puts Tigers under ‘positive pressure’ in chilly Taiwan

No pushover: Malaysia’s Faisal Halim (left) falls while tussling for the ball with Kyrgyzstan’s Shukurov Alimardon during their 2026 World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. Malaysia won 4-3. — MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia football team coach Kim Pan-gon will not accept anything less than a win against Taiwan in their Group D match of the World Cup 2026-Asian Cup 2027 second-round qualifiers at the Taipei Municipal Stadium tonight (7pm).

“If we can’t beat Taiwan, we don’t deserve to get to the next stage. Taiwan’s home record is strong under their new coach but if we can’t get past this hurdle, we shouldn’t be in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers and be among the top 18 teams in Asia,’’ said the South Korean.