1959 Merdeka Tournament
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Federation of Malaya |
| Dates | 30 August – 6 September |
| Teams | 7 |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | .svg.png){kind=small} Malaya (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  India |
| Third place |  South Vietnam |
| Fourth place | .svg.png){kind=small} Hong Kong |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 14 |
| Goals scored | 52 (3.71 per match) |
← 1958 1960 → | |
The 1959 Merdeka Tournament was the third edition of the Merdeka Tournament which was an annual tournament hosted in Malaya. It took place from August 30 to September 6 with seven participating nations.
First round
A series of knockout ties was held to determine which teams would compete in the second round. The match between South Vietnam and Singapore required a replay as the score was level at the end of the first match.
| India | 2–0 |  Singapore |
|---|---|---|
Rahmatullah  52'Balaram 61' | Report |
Attendance: 20,000
Replay
Second round
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malaya | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 5 | Champions |
| India | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | |
| South Vietnam | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 3 | |
.svg.png){kind=small} Hong Kong | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0 |
| Malaya | 4–3 | South Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| India | 2–0 | Hong Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Zulfiqaruddin 8' Kannan 79' | Report |
Attendance: 11,000
| South Vietnam | 2–2 | India |
|---|---|---|
| Do Thoi Vinh 20', 53' | Report | Zulfiqaruddin 8' Kannan 56' |
Consolation round
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Japan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 |
 South Korea | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 |
| Singapore | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0 |
| South Korea | 4–1 | Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 0–0 | Japan |
|---|---|---|
Play-off
| South Korea | 3–1 | Japan |
|---|---|---|
References
- 1959 Merdeka Tournament at RSSSF
- Chaudhuri, Arunava (1999). "The Indian Senior Team at the 1959 Merdeka Cup". www.indianfootball.de. IndianFootball. Archived from the original on 8 June 2018. (information given by Jaydeep Basu, Sunil Warrier, and Gautam Roy).