Malaysia and Vietnam will contest the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup final in what will be the first time the two nations have faced off in the showpiece event.

But there have been a number of other classic encounters between the Harimau Malaya and the Golden Stars. We wind the clock back to take a look at four of the best.

Vietnam 2 Malaysia 1 (2002 AFF Championship third-place play-off)

After the two sides had won their respective groups at the 2002 AFF Championship, both suffered the heartache of elimination in the semi-finals, with Thailand ousting Vietnam and Indonesia defeating Malaysia.

Back then, there was a third-place play-off, meaning the rivals faced off for bronze in Jakarta and it was Vietnam who ended their tournament on a high.

Tran Truong Giang put the Vietnamese in front on the stroke of half-time, but Indra Putra Mahayuddin levelled 10 minutes after the restart.

But it was Vietnam who had the last laugh as Nguyen Minh Phuong restored their lead just a few minutes later and they held on for a win that avenged a 3-0 defeat to the Malaysians at the same stage two years earlier.

Malaysia 2 Vietnam 3 (2008 AFF Suzuki Cup group stage)

One of the most entertaining of the sides’ meetings came in the 2008 group stage in Phuket, after Vietnam had lost their opening game to Thailand and Malaysia had defeated Laos.

Vietnam opened the scoring inside 20 minutes through Pham Thanh Luong before Indra Putra scored another against the Vietnamese just a few minutes later.

Nguyen Vu Phong put the Golden Stars back in front with 18 minutes to play, only for Indra Putra to equalise in the 85th minute. The drama continued, though, and Vu Phong scored the decisive fifth goal almost immediately after.

The result ultimately saw Malaysia exit, while Vietnam went on to defeat Thailand in the final to win their first and, to date, only AFF Suzuki Cup title.

Malaysia 2 Vietnam 0 (2010 AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals, first leg)

The stakes were at their highest when the pair faced off two years later, with a place in the final up for grabs in what was their first semi-final meeting.

After a goalless first half in the first leg at Bukit Jalil Stadium, Safee Sali headed Malaysia in front on the hour with what was his first goal of the tournament.

The striker then capitalised on a goalkeeping error to tap home a crucial second with 11 minutes remaining to seal a 2-0 victory and, despite Vietnam’s best efforts on home soil, the game ended goalless as the holders were eliminated.

Malaysia went on to beat Indonesia in the final with Safee scoring three goals over the two games to finish as the tournament’s top scorer and Malaysia were crowned champions for the first time.

Malaysia 4 Vietnam 2 (2014 AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final, second leg)

After Vietnam had come from behind to claim a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the 2014 semi-final in Kuala Lumpur, they went into the return meeting in Hanoi as favourites to advance to the final.

An early penalty from Safiq Rahim gave Malaysia hope before Norshahrul Idlan made it two in the 16th minute. Le Cong Vinh then pulled one back from the spot midway through the half as parity was restored.

But Malaysia’s first-half blitz continued as an unfortunate deflection saw Dinh Tien Thanh put into his own net shortly before the half hour and Shukor Adan made it 4-1 at half-time.

Cong Vinh rifled home Vietnam’s second with just over 10 minutes remaining but it was too little, too late as Malaysia advanced. The Harimau Malaya were involved in another classic in the final, where they lost 4-3 on aggregate to Thailand.