On the afternoon of October 17, the first round of the Asian World Cup Qualifiers saw the Guam men's soccer team host the Singapore men's soccer team. After a tense game, Singapore was able to double up on Guam with a surprise goal to advance with a final score of 1-0 and an overall score of 3-1. They will be in a group with the Chinese men's soccer team, the South Korean men's soccer team and the Thai men's soccer team. Guam, on the other hand, became the first team to fail to qualify for the final round of the 2026 World Cup.
Due to the expansion of the World Cup, the Asian World Qualifiers were restructured. In the first phase, 20 teams played two matches to finalize 10 teams, which were then joined by the top 27 Asian ranked teams to form the top 36 teams for the second phase of qualifying.
This match was highly anticipated as the winner of the match between Singapore and Guam would be one of the opponents of the national soccer team. In the first round of the tournament, Singapore narrowly won 2-1 at home. As long as it remains undefeated in the second round, Guam can be eliminated and advance to the second stage of qualifying.
Singapore is ranked 157th and Guam is ranked 201st, the second lowest in Asia.
Back at home in this match, Guam was eager to break through Singapore's goals and equalize the total. He remained unsuccessful due to lack of strength. In the last minute of the second half, he set up an own goal and eventually lost 0-1 to Singapore.
As of now, Singapore has easily eliminated Guam with a total score of 3-1, and has successfully advanced to the second stage of the Asian Zone qualifiers, the 36-team tournament. They will be placed in Group C, where the national soccer team is located, and all of the national soccer team's group opponents have been determined.
