2024–25 MFL Challenge Cup
Football tournament season
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The 2024–25 MFL Challenge Cup is the fourth edition of Malaysia Challenge Cup tournament organised by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and Malaysian Football League (MFL). The tournament began on 10 December 2024 and ended on 22 February 2025. This is the first season of the tournament to have a two-year schedule.
| Piala Cabaran MFL 2024–25 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | Malaysia |
| Date | 10 December 2024 – 22 February 2025 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Selangor |
| Runners-up | PDRM |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 14 |
| Goals scored | 47 (3.36 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | (4 goals) Ronnie Fernández |
| Awards | |
| Best player | Ronnie Fernández (Selangor) |
All statistics correct as of 22 February 2025. | |
PDRM were defending champions, defeated Kuching City in the final with 4–1 on aggregate, but were eliminated by the eventual winners Selangor in the final.[1]
Selangor clinch their first Challenge Cup title after beating defending champions PDRM 7–0 on aggregate in the final.[2][3]
Qualifying rounds
A total of 8 teams competed in the knockout phase, which the eight losers of the Malaysia Cup round of 16 will participate into the tournament.[4]
The qualified teams will compete on the knockout stage to compete in a two-legged single-elimination tournament beginning with the quarter-finals followed by semi-finals and the final. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.
Teams
All 8 teams eliminated from the Malaysia Cup round of 16 will enter the tournament.[4] List of the teams are shown below:
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Losers of round of 16 enter 2024–25 MFL Challenge Cup |
Format
Each tie in the knockout phase was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, then 30 minutes of extra time was played (the away goals rule was not applied). If the score was still level at the end of extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
- In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner would be designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).
Schedule
The schedule was as follows (all draws were held at the Malaysian Football League headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor).[5]
| Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter-finals | 10 & 12–13 December 2024 | 21–23 December 2024 |
| Semi-finals | 18–19 January 2025 | 1–2 February 2025 |
| Final | 15 February 2025 | 22 February 2025 |
Knockout-stage
Bracket
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Penang | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| PT Athletic | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Penang | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Selangor | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Kelantan Darul Naim | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Selangor | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Selangor | 3 | 4 | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| PDRM | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| PDRM | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Melaka | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| PDRM (p) | 3 | 1 | 4 (5) | ||||||||||||||
| Kedah Darul Aman | 3 | 1 | 4 (4) | ||||||||||||||
| Kedah Darul Aman | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Kuala Lumpur Rovers | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 10, 12 and 13 December, and the second legs were played on 21, 22 and 23 December 2024.[6]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penang | 6–0 | PT Athletic | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| PDRM | 4–3 | Melaka | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Kelantan Darul Naim | 1–8 | Selangor | 1–5 | 0–3 |
| Kedah Darul Aman | 6–0 | Kuala Lumpur Rovers | 3–0 | 3–0 |
Matches
- First leg
| Penang | 4–0 | PT Athletic |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
- Second leg
Penang won 6–0 on aggregate.
- First leg
- Second leg
PDRM won 4–3 on aggregate.
- First leg
- Second leg
Selangor won 8–1 on aggregate.
- First leg
- Second leg
Kedah Darul Aman won 6–0 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 18 and 19 January, and the second legs were played on 1 and 2 February 2025.[15]
Matches
- First leg
- Second leg
4–4 on aggregate; PDRM won 5–4 on penalties.
- First leg
- Second leg
Selangor won 2–0 on aggregate.
Final
The first leg was played on 15 February, and the second leg was played on 22 February 2025.
Matches
- First leg
- Second leg
Selangor won 7–0 on aggregate.
Winner
| Champions of 2024–25 MFL Challenge Cup |
|---|
 |
| Selangor |
| First Title |
Statistics
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[24] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ronnie Fernández |
Selangor | 4 |
| 2 |  Aiman Afif |
Kedah Darul Aman | 3 |
 Ifedayo Olusegun |
PDRM | ||
 Rafael Vitor |
Penang | ||
 Alvin Fortes |
Selangor | ||
| 6 | Amirul Hisyam |
Kedah Darul Aman | 2 |
 Ali Olwan |
Selangor | ||
| Mukhairi Ajmal |
Selangor | ||
 Yohandry Orozco |
Selangor | ||
| 10 | 22 players | 6 clubs | 1 |
Own goals
| Player | Team | Against | Date | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael Vitor |
Penang | Selangor | 19 January 2025 | 1 |
See also
Notes
- PT Athletic played their home matches at City Stadium, George Town, instead of their regular home stadium MMU Stadium, Cyberjaya respectively, which did not meet MFL requirements.
- PDRM played their home matches at Hang Jebat Stadium, Krubong, instead of their regular home stadium Selayang Municipal Council Stadium, Selayang.
- Kelantan Darul Naim will play their home matches at MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, instead of their regular stadium, Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium, Kota Bharu, which is being renovated.
- Disciplinary Committee of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) awarded Selangor a 3–0 win as a result of PDRM fielding the ineligible player Safiee Ahmad, after Selangor had defeated PDRM by 3–2. Safiee Ahmad failed to serve an automatic one match suspension for receiving two yellow cards earlier in the quarter-finals first leg match against Melaka and the semi-finals second leg match against Kedah Darul Aman.[20]
- PDRM played their home matches at MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, instead of their regular home stadium Selayang Municipal Council Stadium, Selayang.[22]