FIFA Series 2024™

The FIFA Series is a football competition featuring international friendlies between national teams from different confederations that would not normally have the opportunity to play each other. The pilot edition took place in March 2024 ahead of its full launch in March 2026. A total of 24 national teams from all six FIFA confederations took part in this year’s event, with matches played in five countries - Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

The Brunei Darussalam National Team were placed in the same group as Bermuda (CONCACAF), Vanuatu (OFC) and Guinea (CAF) and played Bermuda and Vanuatu in Saudi Arabia in accordance with the FIFA International Friendly Match Week regulations. It was Ramadan during the event, which made things very challenging for us. During Ramadan, no food or drink is consumed from sunrise to sunset. This meant that we had to eat breakfast after sunset, lunch after training and dinner before sunrise. We tried to rest our bodies as much as possible during the day, but we still felt depleted in terms of energy and water, which made it very tough for the players.

We lost our first match against Bermuda 0-2 after conceding two goals in the last 10 minutes of the second half, a result that was heavily influenced by our lack of energy and preparation. I felt responsible for that result as I was the only member of the coaching staff with experience of playing an official match during Ramadan. We did, however, manage to win our second match against Vanuatu 3-2. The team's victory was featured in a FIFA article, which highlighted Hakeme Yazid Bin Said's last-gasp 93rd-minute winner, as Brunei Darussalam claimed a thrilling 3-2 victory over Vanuatu. It was the first time in Brunei Darussalam’s football history that they had played and won a match against a country outside of Asia, and the first time that they had twice come from behind to win a match.

After the FIFA Series 2024™

Under the guidance of Spanish coach Mario RIVERA, we have been working for the past year and a half to introduce the players to our game and play models to get everyone on the same page. The fact that we were able to work continuously with the national team for six weeks after being approached by FIFA about this series was a big reason for this result. The Brunei Darussalam National Team usually call up their players just before the FIFA International Friendly Match Week and play immediately afterwards, with little or no preparation time for the match. Apart from that, clubs are not obliged to send their players, which makes it difficult to strengthen the squad. There is also a huge disparity between the clubs, and Brunei Darussalam does not have the right environment for continuous and intensive training at club level, or for high-level competition and high-intensity league matches on a weekly basis.

Now in my sixth year in Brunei Darussalam, I am starting to see results, albeit slowly. But we are still in the lower half of the fast-growing Southeast Asian football scene. This year, the team will take part in the play-offs for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ and the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ 2024. Preparing well for these competitions and translating that into results will be our biggest challenge this year.