Singapore Lions to play against Malaysia in September FIFA window, Gavin Lee to be Interim Head Coach

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Men’s National Team, known as Lions, will now play against Malaysia in an international ‘A’ friendly match on Sep 4, 2025. The event will be their first under the supervision of interim head coach Gavin Lee, and it will happen at the Bukit Jalil Stadium at 9 p.m. 

With this, Coach Lee expressed: “This match is a valuable opportunity to prepare ourselves for the Asian Cup double header against India in October.” 

“Malaysia will be a tough opponent in front of their home fans, and that’s exactly the kind of test we need as we shape up for the Asian Cup qualifying matches to come,” the coach added. 

This September FIFA International window fixture is significant for Singapore’s qualifying campaign at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. In previous matches, Singapore led Group C after defeating Bangladesh with a score of 2-1 last June. 

Furthermore, among the competing countries, the Lions have four points, leading ahead of Hong Kong, China, with one goal more. Bangladesh came third, with India ranking fourth. Singapore will now battle against India when the qualifying campaign continues in October. 

On social media, netizens expressed their thoughts and opinions about the upcoming match and remarked: “Let’s give our support to the National Team regardless of the result. It’s not easy for them,” “Time to see the real Malaysia team with their naturalised players,” “Derby match. Malaysia is now a stronger team than before. Watch out Lions,” and “I think we will be in for a surprise.” 

Singapore Lion’s last visit to Malaysia

The team’s recent visit to Kuala Lumpur was during the group stage of the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup. Back then, Harris Harun and the team fought a 0-0 draw at the same venue, which resulted in Singapore’s qualification for the semi-finals of the ASEAN tournament, and Malaysia was unfortunate to move forward. 

National team updates

In similar news, the Football Association of Singapore also shared that the women’s team started their training to prepare for their AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifying campaign. 

On social media, FAS posted some photos of the girls during their training sessions with a caption: “Our girls are on a training camp in KL putting in the work ahead of our AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifying campaign.” 

One netizen expressed support in the comments section and stated: “Good luck, girls. You are in my city and wishing you all the best!”