Singapore to face India, Hong Kong and Bangladesh in 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers

SINGAPORE – The Lions should fancy their chances of a maiden Asian Cup qualification after getting a kind draw for the third round of qualifiers, where they were pulled into Group C alongside India, Hong Kong and Bangladesh.

Only the group winners will qualify for the continental showpiece in Saudi Arabia in 2027.

World No. 161 Singapore will kick off their campaign with a home match against 156th-ranked Hong Kong on March 25, 2025, with the qualifiers set to run until March 2026.

While they played in the Asian Cup once – as hosts for the 1984 edition, when they were eliminated at the group stage – they have never qualified for it.

This is perhaps why Lions coach Tsutomu Ogura adopted a more conservative outlook, saying: “It’s a challenging group for us. These are all strong opponents and we have a lot of work to do to prepare for this campaign.”

Six slots are up for grabs after the draw was held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 9, with the 24 teams who did not progress from the second round of the qualifiers divided into six groups.

They will each play six home and away matches in a round-robin format, with the six group winners joining the 18 teams who have already secured their spots for the Jan 15-Feb 8, 2027 event.

For the draw, the Lions were the top-ranked team in the third of four pots.

While they could have been grouped with an easier Pot 4 opponent than 185th-ranked Bangladesh, whom they beat once and drew twice in their three past encounters, they had better luck with the higher-ranked seeds as they dodged big guns like Syria, Thailand and Vietnam.

World No. 127 India are the lowest-ranked team in Pot 1, and have beaten Singapore just four times in their 14 previous meetings. They will be eyeing a third consecutive appearance in the continental competition.

“We are a Pot 1 team and we need to show why we are the favourites to qualify,” said India coach Manolo Marquez on Olympics.com.

“There are not too many differences between groups. Every group is difficult.

“Hong Kong has improved a lot with naturalised players and with their coach Ashley Westwood, who India played against in the World Cup qualifiers (while he was in charge of Afghanistan).”

Hong Kong are the second-lowest ranked side in Pot 2, but have been hard to beat for the Lions, who last recorded a victory over them in 2012 and have won just five of their 25 encounters, most of which were tight affairs.

However, before Singapore set their sights on a historic qualification, they will have to focus on the Dec 8-Jan 5 Asean Championship, also known as the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

They kick off their Group A campaign at the National Stadium against Cambodia on Dec 11, before taking on Timor-Leste (away, Dec 14), Thailand (home, Dec 17) and Malaysia (away, Dec 20).

Ogura added: “We are now fully focused on giving our all in the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup, and hopefully, we will get the results that will give us a lot of confidence before we embark on this Asian campaign in March.

“One thing is for certain, at the Asean Championship, we will learn more about ourselves as a team – how well we are executing our plans, what more we are capable of, and where we need to improve further. And we will use all this in preparing for the qualifiers.”