File picture of the Harimau Malaya squad training for their match against Oman.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia suffered their first defeat in the World Cup 2026/Asian Cup 2027 second-round qualifiers after losing to Oman 0-2 at the Sultan Al-Qaboos Stadium in Muscat, Oman on Thursday (March 21) night.
In their third Group D encounter, the lack of match fitness was telling as the home side led by Jaroslav Silhavy was at their clinical best.
Issam Al-Sabhi scored the first goal in the 58th minute, while the second was scored by Muhsen Al-Ghassani in the 88th minute.
The defeat sees Malaysia going down to third in the group, with first-placed Oman and second-placed Kyrgyzstan sharing the same points as Harimau Malaya but have a better goal difference.
National coach Kim Pan-gon, however, has not lost hope, saying they will bounce back in the return fixture at Bukit Jalil on April 26.
"Congratulations to Oman, they played well. We will assess this match, do the needed recovery and bounce back in Kuala Lumpur," said the South Korean.
"Maybe the idea of getting a draw in Muscat affected the boys, plus we lacked match fitness. But these are not excuses. We are in that situation, facing it and in high-level football, you must adapt," he said.
