May 20 – Chelsea will round off their 2026 pre-season tour with a fixture against Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim, as the Premier League club continues to deepen its commercial and sporting footprint across Asia-Pacific.
A year on from their successful summer in the USA for the club World Cup, the match will take place on August 11 at the 40,000-capacity Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor, bringing Chelsea back to Malaysia for the first time in 13 years.
The game forms part of a wider APAC tour that also includes stops in Australia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Johor Darul Ta’zim – better known as JDT – have become one of Asia’s most ambitious football projects in recent years, dominating domestically while investing heavily in infrastructure and regional profile. Their Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, opened in 2020, has quickly developed a reputation as one of the continent’s standout modern football venues.
Chelsea’s return to Malaysia also reflects the Premier League’s enduring popularity in the region. The club previously visited the country multiple times between 2003 and 2013, although all prior matches were staged in Kuala Lumpur.
Pete Nuttall, Chelsea Football Club’s Director of Football Operations, said: “We are delighted to include this fixture against Johor Darul Ta’zim as the final match of our pre-season tour, and make our first visit to the country since a friendly in 2013.
“Football has an incredibly passionate following across the region, and this is a fantastic opportunity for our supporters in Malaysia and across southeast Asia to see the team in action once more ahead of the new season.”
Come August Chelsea will have Xabi Alonso in charge of the team with one of his first opponents being old team mate Luis Garcia who is JDT’s chief executive. They played together at Liverpool, where they were signed on the same day in August 2004 by manager Rafael Benítez.
The tour comes as elite European clubs continue using pre-season schedules not simply for preparation, but as major international business and brand-building exercises.
For JDT, who made it to the quarter finals of the AFC Champions Elite this season, hosting Chelsea marks another significant moment in the club’s rapid growth story and further validation of Malaysia’s ambitions to become a bigger player in the regional football economy.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]
Old pals, new relationship. Alonso and Garcia set up pre-season Chelsea friendly against Malaysia’s JDT
May 20 – Chelsea will round off their 2026 pre-season tour with a fixture against Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim, as the Premier League club continues to deepen its commercial and sporting footprint across Asia-Pacific.
A year on from their successful summer in the USA for the club World Cup, the match will take place on August 11 at the 40,000-capacity Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor, bringing Chelsea back to Malaysia for the first time in 13 years.
The game forms part of a wider APAC tour that also includes stops in Australia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Johor Darul Ta’zim – better known as JDT – have become one of Asia’s most ambitious football projects in recent years, dominating domestically while investing heavily in infrastructure and regional profile. Their Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, opened in 2020, has quickly developed a reputation as one of the continent’s standout modern football venues.
Chelsea’s return to Malaysia also reflects the Premier League’s enduring popularity in the region. The club previously visited the country multiple times between 2003 and 2013, although all prior matches were staged in Kuala Lumpur.
Pete Nuttall, Chelsea Football Club’s Director of Football Operations, said: “We are delighted to include this fixture against Johor Darul Ta’zim as the final match of our pre-season tour, and make our first visit to the country since a friendly in 2013.
“Football has an incredibly passionate following across the region, and this is a fantastic opportunity for our supporters in Malaysia and across southeast Asia to see the team in action once more ahead of the new season.”
Come August Chelsea will have Xabi Alonso in charge of the team with one of his first opponents being old team mate Luis Garcia who is JDT’s chief executive. They played together at Liverpool, where they were signed on the same day in August 2004 by manager Rafael Benítez.
The tour comes as elite European clubs continue using pre-season schedules not simply for preparation, but as major international business and brand-building exercises.
For JDT, who made it to the quarter finals of the AFC Champions Elite this season, hosting Chelsea marks another significant moment in the club’s rapid growth story and further validation of Malaysia’s ambitions to become a bigger player in the regional football economy.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]