The Road to the Final: Play-Offs Recap

Selangor and Pahang Rangers will contest the MPFL 2026 final after a play-off series that produced 47 goals in six matches and a semi-final that needed extra time to settle. The finalists finished the regular season first and third, Selangor unbeaten on 48 points and Pahang on 37.

The format shaped the route. Selangor and second-placed JDT went straight into the semi-finals, while the sides who finished third to sixth played off for the other two places. The semi-finals were played over two legs and a team had to win both to go through outright. If one side won the first leg and the other won the second, aggregate scores counted for nothing and the tie went to extra time and penalties.

The play-off round opened on 19 September. Fourth-placed KL City met fifth-placed Terengganu, and Alif Mat Amin scored a hat-trick inside the first 18 minutes to give Terengganu a 3-0 lead at the break. Syahid Ajid and Daniel Almeida scored in the 27th and 28th minutes to bring KL City back within a goal, a fightback that deserved more, but Syed Shahrul and Hafizi Ismail answered either side of a second from Syahid, and Terengganu won 5-3. Pahang Rangers beat sixth-placed ATM 9-2 and led 5-0 at the break, with eight different players on the scoresheet. Syarifuddin Akhir scored twice and Rodrigo Da Silva and De Souza both found the net.

Selangor's semi-final with Terengganu was one-sided. Marlon scored four times, three of them in the first five minutes, in the first leg in Kuantan, and Selangor won 6-2, Terengganu's first goal coming from an own goal. The second leg on 17 October finished 6-1 with six different scorers, Mohd Khairul opening the scoring in the 6th minute and Faris Johan taking the MVP award. Alif Mat Amin scored Terengganu's goal, as Selangor made it 18 wins from 18 in 2026.

The other semi-final was a different story. Pahang won the first leg 4-2 in Kuantan, De Souza scoring twice, and Rodrigo opened the second leg after 2 minutes. Andresito levelled in the 6th minute, Bruno Taffy put JDT in front in the 19th, Afiq Abdul Rahman equalised in the 25th and Mohd Ridzwan restored JDT's lead a minute later. Joao Almeida's side held the 3-2 lead to the final whistle and won the second leg, but because Pahang had taken the first, the tie went to extra time under the rules. Rodrigo put Pahang in front in the 48th minute and De Souza scored a minute later for a 4-3 win and put his side into the final. Rodrigo was the MVP in both legs. JDT, who finished second on 40 points, led from the 26th minute to the final whistle of normal time, only for Pahang to score twice in extra time.

The final pairs the league's best side with the team that beat JDT in both legs. Selangor won both regular-season meetings, 5-3 in Circuit 4 and 5-2 in Circuit 6, and Eloy Alonso's side will need a better answer to Edgar Baldasso's side than they found then. The final begins in Kuantan on 24 October and concludes in Shah Alam on 31 October.