Malaysia will play six friendly matches to gear up for the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup.

The Harimau Malaya, who are in the same group as Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos at the regional tournament, were last in action against Bhutan on April 1, which they won 7-0 to end their 12-game winless run.

The 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup winners' first opponents will be Fiji, whom they drew 1-1 with in June 2016, at the Cheras Stadium on July 5.

They will then embark on three straight away matches against Chinese Taipei (September 7), Cambodia (September 10) and Sri Lanka (October 12) before returning home to take on the Kyrgyz Republic for the first time at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on October 16.

The sixth and final opponents, whom they will face on November 3 at home, are yet to be confirmed.

"The six friendly 'A' matches will be the best opportunity to improve Malaysia’s position of 177th in the FIFA rankings besides being a test field for Cheng Hoe to prepare his team ahead of the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup," said secretary-general Hamidin Amin, who will be running for president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), in a statement released on Friday.

"May the detailed plan prepared be able to produce positive results for the Harimau Malaya during the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup."

The 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup, the first without any host nation, will take place from November 8 to December 15.