Asian Cup Qualifier: Can Jamil's India Overcome Singapore Test to Keep Campaign Alive?

Singapore vs India: How to watch, kickoff time

Date: October 9, 2025

Kickoff time: 5:00 PM IST (7:30pm Singapore time)

Venue: National Stadium, Singapore

Singapore vs India: The Big Picture

It's now or never for India in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, as they travel to Singapore for their third match of the qualifiers, having picked up just a point in their opening two games against Bangladesh and Hong Kong.

Editor's Picks

• 

  What we learned from impressive start to the Khalid Jamil era

  Aaditya Narayan

• 

  Khalidball makes instant impact as India begin new era by beating Tajikistan

  Aaditya Narayan

• 

  India have lost again, now what?

  Anirudh Menon

Those two games cost Manolo Marquez his job, and Khalid Jamil has now taken his place. India's start to life under Jamil was positive, finishing third at the CAFA Nations Cup last month after beating Oman on penalties in the third-place playoff. That also came after a significant win against Tajikistan in the group stages.

There has been some upheaval for Jamil in the build-up to this, as there always seems to be in Indian Football. He's not had his full squad available for the whole camp, as clubs have chosen to release players late in the middle of their pre-season programmes, with the AIFF Super Cup slated to begin later this month.

Singapore too are in chaos, despite four points from their opening two games in the qualifiers. Those two games were played under Japanese manager Tsutomu Ogura, but he has since left to take up a role at the Japanese football federation, so Gavin Lee has stepped in as an interim manager for Singapore. They've played two friendlies under Lee, and won neither, drawing against Myanmar and losing to Malaysia, but both games were used to field completely experimental lineups.

If Singapore win this one, then they will move six points ahead of India in the group. With three games to go, that could potentially be a point of no-return for India. While a win is the ideal result at the National Stadium in Singapore on Thursday, a loss would spell curtains for India's qualifying campaign, particularly if Hong Kong beat Bangladesh as well.

However, unlike India's last away game in the qualifiers, this one won't be played in front of a full house such as the one at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong. At the time of writing, several tickets were still available to purchase in the first tier of the stadium, with seats in the top two tiers not open for ticketing at all.

Singapore vs India: Team News

Singapore

Considering Gavin Lee's experimenting, it might be difficult to read much into Singapore's lineups in his first two games. Their squad looks short on left-back options, so Jordan Emaviwe could fill in.

Another headache for Lee is that even though he has three potent attacking options up his sleeve in Ikhsan Fandi, Shawal Anuar and Ilhan Fandi, none of them have been getting regular minutes at club level this season. So, will they potentially be slightly rusty or off the pace?

India

Khalid Jamil's squad has a fairly different look to it, compared to the one selected for the CAFA Nations Cup last month. The headline news, of course, is that Sunil Chhetri is back, and looks set to lead the line for India once again.

With Mohun Bagan players back in the fold, Liston Colaco, Sahal Abdul Samad and Deepak Tangri are all in the squad, with Liston looking favourite to take the left wing spot. The defence has a settled look to it now, particularly with Sandesh Jhingan back from the facial injury he suffered in the loss to Iran at the CAFA Nations Cup.

Suresh Singh Wangjam and Apuia Ralte are big absentees in midfield, but Brandon Fernandes is back and will be expected to take on the creative mantle in midfield, as India look to provide the likes of Chhetri and Lallianzuala Chhangte with chances in front of goal.

Singapore vs India: Key Players

Sunil Chhetri: Him again? Yes, him again. Chhetri's back, and with that, all of India's goal-scoring burden falls on his shoulders again. India scored three times at the CAFA Nations Cup, none of them came from open play, and only one was scored by an attacking player.

So, someone with 95 international goals to his name is obviously a useful call-up. His prowess from set-pieces will be critical as well, given how much India were reliant on them during Jamil's first four games in charge.

He looked very much a fish out of water when played as a lone striker during Manolo Marquez's tenure, so Jamil's use of Chhetri will be interesting. At this stage of his career, the best use of Chhetri is as a poacher sniffing in the box, and using his footballing intelligence to be in the right place at the right time to finish off chances.

Ikhsan Fandi: Just like Chhetri for India, Ikhsan's goal-scoring record at international level is enviable. He's got 21 goals in 41 caps for Singapore so far, and for a side at this level, that is a superb record. Just like India and Chhetri, Ikhsan is one that Singapore will rely on to find the back of the net, with his ability to run in behind defences, and make use of that space.

Jamil's India don't provide opponents with that kind of space that often, and Ikhsan's lack of game-time at club level might also be a bit of a hindrance. He's only played 281 minutes of football this season, out of a possible 9 full games for the Thai club Ratchaburi FC. He hasn't scored a goal either this season.

Singapore vs India: Head-to-Head

Games played: 27

India wins: 12

Singapore wins: 11

The last time the two sides met was in a friendly in 2022, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Ashique Kuruniyan scored to equalise for India in that game, after Ikhsan Fandi had given Singapore the lead.

Singapore vs India: Expected Lineups

Singapore (4-3-3)

GK: Izwan Mahbud
RB: Ryhan Stewart | CB: Hariss Harun | CB: Lionel Tan | LB: Jordan Emaviwe
CM: Song Ui-Young | CM: Kyoga Nakamura | CM: Shah Shahiran
RW: Harhys Stewart | CF: Ikhsan Fandi | LW: Shawal Anuar

India (4-2-3-1)

GK: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
RB: Rahul Bheke | CB: Sandesh Jhingan | CB: Anwar Ali | LB: Muhammed Uvais
DM: Nikhil Prabhu | DM: Danish Farooq
RW: Lallianzuala Chhangte | AM: Brandon Fernandes | LW: Liston Colaco
CF: Sunil Chhetri

(With inputs from Gabriel Tan)