The newly-appointed Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim recently reveals that qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a key component of his plan for Malaysian football.
The Johor Crown Prince thinks the dream could materialize if all the involved parties start working towards it from the moment.
“I already told them (FAM) about it. I said ‘Hey, we have to start working now’. Because I believe, if we start doing all the positive changes now, we might have a chance,” the owner of Johor Darul Ta’zim F.C said in an interview with FoxSports.
“It’s not impossible, it is possible. I’m quite confident on that. That is our target. That is the long-term target. It’s precisely why we have to start working hard now. We have to change the structure, we have to change the mindset, the mentality and everything else,” he added.
Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim hopes FAM and the Malaysian national team can capitalize on the new format of the 2026 tournament and grab one of the 8 World Cup qualifying spots allocated for Asia.