The 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification tournament is expected to be held in October 2012 based on schedules of previous qualifying tournaments. It will involve the five lower ranked teams in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

. All teams play in a round-robin tournament

Round-robin tournament

A round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...

 format and the top two teams qualify for the tournament proper.

According to reports in the Philippines in early 2011, they have been placed as the No. 6 seed and therefore automatically qualify for the final tournament, replacing Myanmar. However, this has yet to be confirmed by the ASEAN Football Federation

ASEAN Football Federation

ASEAN Football Federation is a subset of nations within the Asian Football Confederation from Southeast Asia. ASEAN stands for Association of South East Asian Nations. The AFF was founded in 1984 by the nations of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.Cambodia, Laos,...

. Brunei is expected to return, having been re-instated towards the end of May 2011 by FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

, following their suspension since September 2009.