The path to the 2026 Asian Games suddenly looks a lot steeper as the SIBOL Men’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang national team was handed a major reality check after falling to Cambodia on the second day of the qualifiers on June 19. In what is probably the biggest upset of the tournament, the Cambodian squad challenged the Philippines’ dominance, completing a gutsy come-from-behind win to give the national team its first loss of the tournament.
The series opened with SIBOL dictating the pace early in Game 1, with Vinuya and Pabico leading the team to an eight-kill advantage and a 6k gold lead by the 11-minute mark. However, Cambodia was able to capitalize on the Philippines’ errors, winning the next two team fights to cut the deficit by the 15-minute mark. From that point, Cambodia started to take control of the game, gaining the clear upper hand in team fights, although the Philippines was able to compensate by securing key objectives around the map.
The Lord clash at the 21-minute mark was the turning point, however. With Sanford applying pressure in the enemy base, the Philippines secured the Lord, and despite seemingly being at a disadvantage, they were able to turn the subsequent team fight around to clinch Game 1.
Cambodia Flips the Script on SIBOL
Game 2, however, was a completely different story. The Cambodian squad struck early, grabbing a 4–1 kill lead and then kept rolling, securing five more takedowns while holding the Philippines scoreless to build a massive 7k gold lead by the 11-minute mark. Cambodia also put an exclamation point with mid-laner Chanmakara “Raa” Sovan securing a thunderous Maniac to close out a dominant Game 2 win.
The deciding game began in the Philippines’ favor, as they built an early 3–0 lead. But Cambodia soon settled in and kept the match close in the opening minutes. However, things started to fall apart for the Philippines at the 10-minute mark. With the enemy roamer seemingly overextending, SIBOL tried to punish him but ultimately failed to do so, leaving them vulnerable to a counterattack from the Cambodian squad. That mistake resulted in four of them being taken down, giving Cambodia everything they needed to complete a massive upset.
Despite the setback, the Philippines still hold onto the third seed in the Southeast Asian group, thanks to their dominant 2–0 sweeps against Malaysia and Laos. Still, SIBOL couldn’t afford another collapse in their next four games if they want to secure one of the five available slots in their bracket. Cambodia, on the other hand, reinforced their status on the world stage, maintaining a flawless 3–0 record and joining No. 1 seed Indonesia as the only undefeated teams in the bracket.
