Singapore opened their Group A campaign with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Cambodia on July 24 at Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh. Shawal Anuar gave Singapore the lead in the 22nd minute with an assist from Lionel Tan. Cambodia equalised in the 55th minute through Ouk Sovann. Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud then made a key save in the 66th minute denying Cambodia's Sa Ty. The winning goal came late in added time when Ilhan Fandi scored a spectacular scissors-kick, securing the three points for Singapore in front of 27,790 fans [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
Three days later on July 27, Singapore defeated Timor-Leste 2-0 at Jalan Besar Stadium to solidify their top spot in Group A. Ilhan Fandi opened the scoring with a header in the 41st minute from a cross by Song Ui-young. Song then scored himself with a header in the 56th minute, providing the assist earlier as well. The attendance was 4,665 for the match [7, 8, 9].
Singapore, ranked 148th in the world, now leads Group A with 6 points, three points ahead of Vietnam, who have played only one match. Cambodia and Timor-Leste are ranked 175th and 201st respectively [1, 7, 8].
Coach Gavin Lee, who took charge in September 2025, praised his strikers after the wins. "The strikers’ job is to score and they did that. We have two very capable strikers, so it’s about how we can feed them more to best utilise their assets," Lee said. He highlighted forwards Ilhan Fandi, who has 6 goals in 10 games under Lee, and Song Ui-young, a naturalised player with 8 goals and 8 assists in 35 appearances. Song reflected on the opener, saying, "We were dominating the game, and should have scored, but somehow we were struggling to get the goal. I was upset, but also motivated. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t fall, and just kept going to make that final pass, and Ilhan scored" [4, 7, 5, 6, 8, 9].
Midfielders have contributed fewer goals, and Coach Lee stressed the need for them to support the attack more effectively. Singapore’s next matches are away against Vietnam on July 31 and at home versus Indonesia on August 7 in their final Group A fixtures [1, 7, 8].
