In 2002 when the tournament was officially launched on 16 August 2002, all ten ASEAN member states took part in the football tournament which held from. The ten teams were divided into two groups. In Group A, Myanmar easily topped the group with a maximum of 12 points and scoring 14 goals in their four matches without conceding a goal. Malaysia and Laos finished equal with 6 points but Malaysia had a better goal difference of 13-8 beating Laos having a better goal difference of 10-7. Meanwhile in Group B, Indonesia easily topped the group by beating the other four teams and scoring 14 goals and conceding none. In their first match, they beat the Philippines by 10-0. Thailand came in second with three wins. Philippines propped up the table losing all their games and conceding 21 goals and scoring only one goal. In the semi-finals, Indonesia beat Malaysia by a single goal and Thailand beat Myanmar on penalties 4-3, their game ended 2-2 after extra time. The first Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy was won by Indonesia when they beat Thailand 2-0 on 26 August 2002.
2nd Tournament in 2005
The next Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy tournament was not held in 2004 but it was held instead in 2005 from 13 to 25 March. Cambodia did not take part and the nine teams were divided into one group of five and a second group of four teams. In the Group A Thailand topped the group by winning three games and drawing one, while Vietnam managed to come in second by beating Malaysia 2-1 in their final group match and thus getting second place. In the smaller Group B, the final table saw Myanmar, Laos and Brunei all garnering 6 points each but Myanmar with its superior scoring record topped the table and Laos came in second but Brunei's 6-0 defeat to Myanmar meant that it has an inferior goal difference. In the semi-finals, Myanmar beat Vietnam 2-0 and Thailand needed the extra time to beat Laos 3-2. In the final, Thailand overcame Myanmar by beating them 3-0.
3rd Tournament in 2007
The third Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy tournament was held two years later in 2007 from 3 to 12 March. This time round only eight ASEAN member states took part with Indonesia and Laos not being able to come. The group stage saw two groups of four teams each. In Group A, Myanmar easily topped the group by beating the other three teams and scoring 22 goals and conceding one goal and Cambodia came second with same point with Brunei but better goal difference. In Group B, with defending champions Thailand easily beating the other three teams, the other three teams were forced to scramble for second place. It was Malaysia who took the second spot after beating Singapore 2-0 in the final group game. Singapore and Vietnam did not win a single game. In the semi-finals both group winners easily won their matches. Thailand beating Cambodia by a 10-1 score line and Myanmar beating Malaysia 2-0. In the final Thailand and Myanmar could not beat each other as the game went into extra time. It was settled by a nail-biting penalty shootout with Thailand overcoming Myanmar by 5-4.
