PATHUM THANI, 14 NOVEMBER 2025 – Singapore fell 3-2 to Thailand at Thammasat Stadium on Thursday (13 November) evening, as the Lions went into the final stretch of their preparation ahead of next week’s crucial Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2027 qualifier on Tuesday, 18 Nov.
The hosts struck first in Pathum Thani, through Sarach Yooyen’s thunderous 15th minute effort, but Singapore responded almost instantly.
Left-back Akram Azman, recalled to the squad for this window, delivered a looping cross that found Ryhan Stewart unmarked at the far post. The right full-back showed great awareness to square the ball across goal for Glenn Kweh, who tapped home to open his international account and draw the Lions level.
After the break, Thailand reclaimed the lead through Theerathon Bunmathan’s driven strike, before Seksan Ratree added a third soon after, both goals coming in a seven-minute spell immediately after the match resumed.
The Lions refused to back down and continued to push forward.
Their persistence paid off in the 62nd minute when Harhys Stewart’s cross was flicked goalwards by substitute Ikhsan Fandi, forcing Pattiwat Khammai into a save. The Thai goalkeeper could only parry the effort into the path of Kweh, who calmly stroked home his second of the night to give Singapore a lifeline heading into the final half hour.
Deep into stoppage time, Izwan Mahbud produced a fine penalty save to deny Jude Soonsup-Bell to keep the final score at 3-2 – a result that, while not in Singapore’s favour, offered valuable lessons ahead of the decisive clash in Hong Kong.
Interim Head Coach Gavin Lee reflected positively on the team’s showing despite the defeat.
“It’s not the result we wanted, but it’s a valuable lesson in our preparation for the Hong Kong match,” he said.
“We were able to test out a few things in a difficult matchup and we’ll work on them immediately. There’s character in the team – we didn’t give up, and we continued to play our football – and that is important for us,” said Lee, turning his attention to the crunch tie in four days’ time.”
“We showed that we have the ability to play our football,” said Lee.
“Now, it’s about fine-tuning that to be able to sustain it for the whole 90 minutes.”
