Nepal defeats S'pore in friendly men's football match, 1st win in 4 matches

The Singapore men's national football team lost 0-1 to the Nepal men's national football team in a friendly match held at the National Stadium on Mar. 21, 2025.

This marks "a historical win" for the Nepal national team, as it was the team's first victory against the Lions in four meetings, reported The Straits Times.

As of Mar. 22, the Nepal national team is ranked 175th on the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA)'s world ranking for men's football teams, falling 15 places behind the Lions, who ranked 160th.

Details of the game

According to the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), 5,078 attendees turned up to the game on Friday evening.

The winning goal was scored by Nepalese winger Gillespye Jung Karki in the 12th minute of the game.

While Singaporean right-back Ryhan Stewart came close to scoring a goal for the Lions eight minutes later, it was denied by Nepalese goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong.

During the second half of the game, Singaporean winger Faris Ramli's attempt to score in the 68th minute was similarly thwarted by Chemjong.

Three minutes later, Singaporean winger-forward Ilhan Fandi also attempted a free kick, but it went over the goal bar.

In the 89th minute, Singaporean defensive midfielder Harhys Stewart's effort to equalise the result was stopped by Chemjong again.

While Faris attempted a free kick close to stoppage time, the ball hit the side of the crossbar.

'Worst game played': Tsutomu Ogura

In response to the game result, Singapore head coach Tsutomu Ogura characterised it as "the worst game" the Lions have played since he assumed his role in February 2024.

According to Ogura, it is even worse than the game where Singapore lost 0-7 to South Korea during the 2026 World Cup qualifier match on Jun. 6, 2024.

Besides criticising his squad for not playing "as a team", Ogura also said they could not fight only when they fell behind their opponent or in the last few minutes of the game.

Nevertheless, Ogura took the responsibility for the Lions' performance on Mar. 21, adding:

"I select the players, decide how we play, and show our concept of football. If we can't show our football, it is my responsibility, and I apologise to our fans who came out today."

He added that he would now be directing his focus to the next game, in which Singapore will go against Hong Kong at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 qualifiers opening match on Mar. 25.

"We must play like a new team if we want to get a better result in that match," said Ogura.

Fans can get their tickets to the match via Ticketek. Tickets are priced between S$16 and S$103.

Top images via Football Association of Singapore