Many Chinese football fans were seen queueing at the nasi padang stall owned by Singapore national football team goalkeeper Hassan Sunny on Jun. 12.

Photos of the queue were uploaded to Chinese social media Xiaohongshu.

A few groups of individuals were also seen posing and taking photos in front of the stall.

One group of three even held up a scarf adorned with the phrase "Fighting for China" in front of the stall.

After the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifier match between Singapore and Thailand on Jun. 11, Hassan gained popularity in China for making 11 saves during the game and preventing Thailand from beating Singapore by three or more goals.

As a result, China was able to advance to the next round of the qualifier games, keeping its World Cup hopes alive.

Upon learning about Hassan's stall in Tampines, many Chinese football fans encouraged those in or visiting Singapore to patronise the stall to express their gratitude.

Wife didn't know about Hassan's overnight popularity

Speaking to CNA, Hassan's wife, Aidah Rahim, who runs the daily operations of Dapur Hassan, said when she and Hassan saw money started being transferred to Hassan's Alipay account on Jun. 11 night after the stall was closed, they thought it was related to scams.

She only realised that Hassan had gone viral on Chinese social media and that the money was a gesture of appreciation from Chinese football fans after a Chinese fan visited her stall on Jun. 12 and shared the background with her.

According to Aidah, the fan also told her that some fans had decided to transfer amounts that included the number "520" because its Mandarin pronunciation sounds similar to that of "I love you".

However, Aidah shared that she had yet to have the time to calculate how much the fans had transferred to Hassan's Alipay account as she and her aunts had to "keep on frying the chicken and egg" to serve their patrons.

Items sold out

As a result of Hassan's overnight popularity, everything at Dapur Hassan was sold out by 1:30pm, more than an hour before the stall's official closing time indicated on its Instagram page, reported CNA.

Nevertheless, those who missed the stall's offerings did not let it dampen their mood.

A man who visited the stall on Jun. 12 afternoon said he was very happy to know that those who came down to support the stall were his "compatriots from China".

"I think it is wonderful that China's advancement into the next round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers has further deepened the friendship between China and Singapore. Bye for now. I will make sure to swing by [Dapur Hassan] again and try it," he added.

Stall will prepare more food in coming days

In response to the heightened demand, Aidah said she and her aunts would be preparing slightly more food for the next few days but did not plan on extending the stall's opening hours.

While she felt the additional attention was "a bit disruptive", as some of the stall's regular patrons had to wait longer or find elsewhere to eat after the food was sold out, she thanked the Chinese fans for their support.

Aidah also said she was sorry that there was not much food left and that the stall sold out very fast today because of the sudden influx of customers.

She told another Chinese content creator who visited the stall that Hassan would be returning to Singapore from Bangkok today, but he would go home directly as he needed to prepare for a game on Jun. 15 for his club, Albirex Niigata Singapore.

Top images via 剑桥南阳学姐 & 韩小鱼/Xiaohongshu