Singapore vs China

Kallang’s National Stadium sets the stage for a ‘make or break’ 2026 World Cup qualifying Group C meeting between Singapore and China.

Singapore can ill-afford a slip-up in this match-up if they’re to reignite their faltering bid to advance to the World Cup finals for the first time in the nation’s history. Tsutomu Ogura’s men have experienced a disastrous start to their qualifying Group C campaign as South Korea and Thailand trounced them 5-0 and 3-1, respectively. Lapses of concentration on the stroke of halftime saw Singapore concede inside the final five minutes of the first half in both defeats. Confidence stems from the Lions’ pre-group form. They had won three consecutive internationals before Group C’s kick-off, including a brace of one-goal margin victories against Guam in the World Cup qualifying opening phase. However, Singapore’s long-standing struggles against China quash that optimism, with Ogura’s side losing their last three H2Hs by an aggregate score of 12-2.

Unlike Singapore, who failed to qualify for the 2024 Asian Cup, China appeared at the tournament for the 13th time on the spin, only to bow out in the group stages without finding the back of the net (D2, L1). Indeed, low scoring has been a common theme in China’s recent outings, with four of their last five seeing one or both sides fail to score in matches garnering under 2.5 goals. Against this backdrop, both their opening qualifying Group C fixtures have featured 3+ goals, suggesting an action-packed contest could be on the cards. After a 2-1 triumph at Thailand, Branko Ivkovic’s team slumped to a 3-0 home loss to table-topping South Korea and must take three points here to increase their chances of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time since 2002.