The 2023 MFL Challenge Cup is the third edition of Malaysia Challenge Cup tournament organised by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and Malaysian Football League (MFL). The tournament began on 18 September and ended on 3 December 2023. The qualified teams will compete on the knockout stage to compete in a two-legged single-elimination tournament beginning with the quarterfinals 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.
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. This was the first Challenge Cup to be held since the 2019 edition, after the previous 3 years saw the tournament not held due to various circumstances. This was also the first tournament under its new name, the MFL Challenge Cup.
PDRM defeated Kuching City in the final, with 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate, thus winning the competition for the first time in club history.
All 8 teams eliminated from the Malaysia Cup round of 16 will enter the tournament:
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. <section begin=Format /> The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
The schedule was as follows (all draws were held at the Malaysian Football League headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor).
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<section begin=QF /> The first legs were played on 18 and 19 September 2023, and the second legs were played on 4, 5 and 6 October 2023.
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Kelantan United won 11âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
PDRM won 5âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Kuching City won 4âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Penang won 5âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
<section begin=QF /> The first legs were played on 21 and 22 October 2023, and the second legs were played on 4 and 5 November 2023.
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PDRM won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Kuching City won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
<section begin=F /> The first leg was played on 29 November 2023, and the second leg was played on 3 December 2023.<section end=F /> <section begin=F />
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PDRM won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.