Nickname(s) | The Lions |
---|---|
Association | Football Association of Singapore (FAS) |
Confederation | AFC (Asia) |
Sub-confederation | AFF (South-East Asia) |
Head coach | V. Sundramoorthy |
Captain | Shahril Ishak |
Most caps | Shahril Ishak and Daniel Bennett (132) |
Top scorer | Fandi Ahmad (55) |
Home stadium |
National Stadium Jalan Besar Stadium |
FIFA code | SIN |
FIFA ranking | |
Current | 165 (12 January 2017) |
Highest | 73 (August 1993) |
Lowest | 171 (20 October 2016) |
Elo ranking | |
Current | 174 (11 January 2017) |
Highest | 103 (4 November 2009) |
Lowest | 176 (November 2016) |
First international | |
Singapore 1–0 Republic of China (Singapore; 22 May 1948) |
|
Biggest win | |
Singapore 11–0 Laos (Singapore; 15 January 2007) |
|
Biggest defeat | |
Burma 9–0 Singapore (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 9 November 1969) |
|
Asian Cup | |
Appearances | 1 (first in 1984) |
Best result | Group stage, 1984 |
The most significant successes of the team have come in the regional AFF Championship, which Singapore has won four times in 1998, 2005, 2007 and 2012. Singapore is the first team to achieve this feat and the only team to win in all the finals they played. In 1998, Singapore beat Vietnam 1–0 in the final to capture the country's first major international football title. In the 2004–05 competition, Singapore defeated Indonesia in a two-leg final 5–2 on aggregate. Singapore retained the trophy in 2007, beating Thailand 3–2 on aggregate in the final. In the 2012 AFF Championship, Singapore won the trophy a record 4th time, again defeating three-time champions Thailand 3–2 on aggregate in the final.
In the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers, Singapore became the only team to beat Iraq en route to their Asian Cup winning campaign. Singapore also drew with China 0–0 and 1–1 at home in 2006 and 2009 respectively. In March 2008, Australia also failed to beat Singapore when the game ended in a goalless draw.
In January 2007, Singapore achieved a national record 11–0 win against Laos in an AFF Championship match.Mohd Noh Alam Shah scored 7 goals in the match.
In the FIFA World Rankings, Singapore's highest standing was in the first release of the figures, in August 1993, at 73rd. Singapore was the Asian Football Confederation's 'Mover of the Year' in 2005.
Singapore's main rivals on the international stage are their geographical neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia, and past matches between these two teams have produced much drama. Over the years, Singapore has included several naturalised citizens in its team such as Mustafic Fahrudin from Yugoslavia, Daniel Bennett from England, Shi Jiayi and Qiu Li from China. Singapore is currently the 165th-ranked team in the world as of December 2016.