The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) began direct ticket sales for the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 semi-final between Vietnam and Malaysia at 10 am on August 19.
The ticket counter was set up at the main entrance of the VFF headquarters on Le Quang Dao Street in Tu Liem Ward, Hanoi. Each person was allowed to buy a maximum of four tickets, regardless of ticket category.
Although sales did not begin until 10 am, many fans arrived as early as 4 am to secure their places in the queue.
Duy Ha arrived at 7 am and planned to buy four VND 1 million (USD 37.70) tickets to attend the match with his friends.
"I knew there could be a lot of people waiting to buy tickets, but I didn't expect that even though I came early, many others would arrive even earlier and have to wait for so long," Duy said.
The VFF had previously sold tickets for the second-leg semi-final online in two rounds, on August 8 and 13. The tickets sold out within hours of going on sale.
Another fan, Cuong, said he and several friends arrived at about 4 am and squeezed into the queue while waiting for sales to begin.
"I tried to buy tickets online earlier, but I was too late and they had all sold out. When I heard the VFF was selling tickets directly, I immediately asked some friends to come here and queue early. We hope to get the tickets we want and support the Vietnamese team at the stadium," he said.
Outside the VFF headquarters, dozens of ticket touts moved onto Le Quang Dao Street and mingled with fans in the queue, offering tickets on the black market.
Tickets originally priced at VND 300,000 (USD 11.30) were being offered by touts for about VND 1.2 million (USD 45.30) per pair, while VND 500,000 (USD 18.90) tickets were being offered for about VND 1.6 million (USD 60.40) per pair.
The second leg of the semi-final between Vietnam and Malaysia is scheduled to kick off at 8 pm on August 19 at My Dinh Stadium. Vietnam take a 2-0 advantage into the match after beating Malaysia in the first leg away from home on August 16.