Singapore vs South Korea

The National Stadium in Kallang sets the stage for a lopsided 2026 World Cup qualifier between minnows Singapore and high-flying South Korea.

Though there are still two games left in Group C, Singapore’s hopes of wrapping up a berth at the World Cup finals for the first time in the nation’s history are already dead in the water. Except for an action-packed 2-2 draw against China in their last home outing, the Lions have lost their three remaining World Cup qualifiers via multi-goal margins. Nailed to the bottom of the standings, they’ve nothing but pride left to play for, which could be a blessing in disguise, considering they meet a South Korea side that humbled them 5-0 in the reverse fixture. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Tsutomu Ogura’s side as they return home buoyed by the fact they’ve only lost one of the last four internationals they hosted (W2, D1).

On the other hand, visiting South Korea headed into Group C as odds-on favorites, and they’ve lived up to the billing, winning three of their four qualifiers to set one foot in the third qualifying round. A 1-1 home draw against Thailand on Matchday 3 was the only blip, but they’d still qualify as group winners with a game to spare with a win here. No one can put it past the Taegeuk Warriors to achieve that feat, especially after beating Singapore by 3+ goals ‘to nil’ in three of their four previous H2Hs. A 2-0 friendly defeat on this soil in 2010 remains the only blemish on South Korea’s near-perfect H2H record, but each of their three victories have come in competitive games.