Singapore National Football Team

The Singapore national football team is the national football (soccer) team of Singapore. The team comes under the organisation of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).

To date, the most significant successes of the team have come in the regional ASEAN Football Championship (formerly known as the 'Tiger Cup'), which Singapore has won three times in 1998, 2005 and 2007. In 1998, Singapore beat Vietnam 1-0 in the final to capture the country's first major international football title. In the 2004-5 competition, Singapore defeated Indonesia in a two-leg final 5-2 on aggregate. Singapore successfully retained the trophy in 2007, beating Thailand 3-2 on aggregate in the final.

Although Singapore is widely regarded as a minnow in the international footballing arena, the national team has ground out quite a few upset results and have made it hard for many away teams in recent years. In the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers, for example, Singapore became the only team to beat Iraq enroute to their Asian Cup winning campaign. Singapore had also drew with China 0-0 at home in 2006. China also narrowly escaped with a 1-0 victory in Tianjin thanks to a last minute penalty. Japan, Uruguay, Denmark and Saudi Arabia have also come away with narrow 2-1 wins in recent times. In September 2007, Singapore almost took the scalp of Gulf Cup champions, UAE, but a late equaliser prevented a win for the Lions. In March 2008, Australia became the latest victim when they failed to beat Singapore when the game ended in a goalless draw.

In the FIFA World Rankings, Singapore is currently the number 3 ranked Southeast Asian team behind Thailand and the number 20 in Asia (as of April 2008). Singapore was tagged as the Asian Football Confederation's 'Mover of the Year' in 2005.

In January 2007, Singapore achieved a national record 11-0 win against Laos in an ASEAN Football Championship match. Mohd Noh Alam Shah scored 7 goals in the match. Singapore's main rival on the international stage is their geographical neighbour, Malaysia, and past matches between these two teams have produced much drama.

All of the players in the Singapore national football team currently play for club teams in Singapore's top professional league, the S.League.

In recent years, Singapore has included several naturalised citizens in its team. Notable foreign-born citizens who have played for Singapore include Egmar Goncalves from Brazil; Mirko Grabovac from Croatia and Itimi Dickson from Nigeria. The current national team also consists of foreign-born citizens such as Daniel Bennett and John Wilkinson from England; Qiu Li and Shi Jiayi from China; Mustafic Fahrudin from Serbia; Precious Emuejeraye, Itimi Dickson and Agu Casmir from Nigeria; and the Bosnian-born former Australian Aleksander Duric.


Competitive Record

FIFA World Cup Record
1930 to 1974 - Did not enter
1978 to 2010 - Did not qualify

AFC Asian Cup Record
1956 - Did not enter
1960 - Did not qualify
1964 - Did not enter
1968 - Did not qualify
1972 - Did not enter
1976 - Did not qualify
1980 - Did not qualify
1984 - Round 1
1988 - Did not enter
1992 to 2007 - Did not qualify

ASEAN Football Championship Record
This competition was formerly known as the Tiger Cup
1996 - Group Stage
1998 - Champions
2000 - Group Stage
2002 - Group Stage
2004 - Champions
2007 - Champions
2008 - Semi Finalists

Asian Games Record (Under-23 Team Since 2002)
1951 - Did Not Enter
1954 - Eliminated at Group Stage
1958 - Eliminated at Group Stage
1962 - Did Not Enter
1966 - 4th Position
1970 - Did Not Enter
1974 - Did Not Enter
1978 - Did Not Enter
1982 - Did Not Enter
1986 - Did Not Enter
1990 - Eliminated at Group Stage
1994 - Did Not Enter
1998 - Did Not Enter
2002 - Did Not Enter
2006 - Eliminated in Preliminary Round

SEA Games Record (Under-23 Team since 2001)
1959 - Did Not Enter
1961 - Did Not Enter
1963 - Cancelled
1965 - Eliminated at Preliminary Round
1967 - Did Not Enter
1969 - NA
1971 - Eliminated at Group Stage
1973 - 4th Position
1975 - Bronze Medallists
1977 - Eliminated at Group Stage
1979 - Eliminated at Preliminary Round
1981 - 4th Position
1983 - Silver Medallists
1985 - Silver Medallists
1987 - Eliminated at Group Stage
1989 - Silver Medallists
1991 - Bronze Medallists
1993 - Bronze Medallists
1995 - Bronze Medallists
1997 - 4th Position
1999 - 4th Position
2001 - Eliminated at Group Stage
2003 - Eliminated at Group Stage
2005 - Eliminated at Group Stage
2007 - Bronze Medallists