Medan: A total of 15 players from Johor Darul Ta'zim FC (JDT) dominate the final 23-man squad selected to represent the country at the 2026 ASEAN Under-19 Championship in Medan from June 1 to 13. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), in a statement today, said that of the 15 players, eight are from JDT III and seven from JDT IV.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, most of the players selected by head coach Mohd Nafuzi Zain are aged 18 or 19, while JDT IV striker Arayyan Hakeem Norizam is the youngest player in the squad at 17. The 2026 ASEAN U-19 Championship, which will be held at three venues - Teladan Stadium, Madya Stadium 1, and North Sumatra Main Stadium - will feature 11 teams, with hosts and defending champions Indonesia drawn in Group A alongside Vietnam, Timor-Leste, and Myanmar.

Group B features last edition's finalists Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, while Group C comprises three teams - Australia, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Malaysia, who emerged champions in the 2018 and 2022 editions, will begin their campaign against Singapore on June 2, followed by a match against Brunei on June 5 before completing their group fixtures against Thailand on June 8.

Only the group winners and the best second-placed team will advance to the semi-finals. In the previous edition in 2024 in Surabaya, the national U-19 squad, then coached by Juan Torres Garrido, finished fourth after losing to Australia in a penalty shootout.

The Malaysian squad comprises players from various clubs, including JDT III and JDT IV. Other clubs represented in the squad include Selangor FC II, Selangor FC U-20, Selangor FC U-18, Nk Trnje FC, and MISC - Touchtronics FC. Among the notable players are Ahmad Lutfil Hadi Sahabudin, Faez Iqhwan Muhammad Azmi, and Muhammad Amar Imran Uzaini Ashadi, who are expected to play crucial roles in the tournament.