Mongolia will host Cambodia on Tuesday at MFF Football Centre in their first home fixture of 2024 and the second friendly between these sides over the past few days.
The Cambodians triumphed 2-0 over Mongolia on Friday, thanks to a pair of goals within the opening half hour of that encounter.
Match preview
Their Asian Cup qualification playoff with Timor-Leste is just a few months away, and Mongolia need a confidence boost in the worst way.
Ichiro Otsuka's men extended their winless run to nine matches in all competitions last week, losing their last six international affairs.
Tuesday will be their first encounter at MFF Football Stadium since October, when they were beaten 1-0 by Afghanistan in 2026 World Cup qualifying.
You have to go back to June 2022 for the last time they came away with a victory at MFF Football Stadium, defeating Yemen in an Asian Cup qualification fixture 2-0.
A 2-0 defeat versus India at the Intercontinental Cup in June 2023 was the last time they had conceded a goal in the opening half before their defeat on Friday.
It has taken nearly nine months, but Cambodia have a victory at last, ending a four-match losing run with their triumph last week.
This week, they have a chance to win successive matches on the international stage for the first time since October 2021.
Last Friday, they scored multiple goals in a single match for the first time since a 4-0 win over Macau last September, while they have now won four consecutive games when netting more than once.
Felix Dalmas has yet to win an away match since becoming the head coach of this team for a second time in March 2023, with the previous Cambodian victory as the visitors coming in an October 2021 Asian Cup playoff with Guam (1-0).
They have not lost a match when scoring the opening goal since a 4-1 defeat to Myanmar in November 2018 at the AFF Championship.
Team News
Dolgoon Amaraa was the only Mongol player to feature in the starting 11 against Tanzania, who kept his place in the opening lineup last Friday.
Tumen-Ulzii Sodbilguun, Tsetsegmaa Bilguun and Arvinbat Mendbayar are still seeking their first caps with the national team.
Thierry Bin can reach 50 caps for Cambodia on Tuesday, Sin Sophanat has a chance to reach double digits in that department and Lim Pisoth now has 20 appearances with the senior squad.
Sa Ty and Yudai Ogawa both notched their first goals with the national team to propel them to a comfortable victory over Mongolia last week, while Nick Taylor failed to score his second international goal, missing a penalty in second-half stoppage time.
Mongolia possible starting lineup:
Mendbayar; Amaraa, Chinzorig, Orkhon, Gerelt-Od, Amgalanbat; Khurelbaatar, Erdenbat; Batmonkh, Ganbold, Sodmonkh
Cambodia possible starting lineup:
Kimhuy; Krya, Bunchhai, Chandara, Socheavila; Muslim, Bin, Lyhour, Taylor; Chantea, Pisoth
We say: Mongolia 0-0 Cambodia
The Mongols should feel a lot more at ease playing in front of their home fans, and with Asian Cup qualifiers on the horizon for each, we expect to see a rather cagey upcoming fixture.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
