 "Rahim Ali helped India draw the match despite one man down. Image: AIFF")
India showed a lot of fight to earn a late 1-1 draw against Singapore in their AFC Asian Cup 2027 third-round qualifier at the Singapore National Stadium on Thursday, October 9. The Blue Tigers went down to 10 men early in the second half after Sandesh Jhingan was sent off, but they refused to give up. Rahim Ali scored a stoppage-time equaliser to secure a crucial point for India.
Singapore looked stronger throughout the match, and they took the lead late in the first half through Ikhsan Fandi’s goal. After the break, India had to defend most of the time as they were one man down, but Rahim Ali’s stoppage-time goal kept India’s hopes of qualifying for the Asian Cup alive.
“Mathematically, we still have a chance to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup 2027. We still have three games left but we are taking one game at a time,” Sunil Chhetri said after the match.
“From what I could see, it was a 50-50 decision but when we’ve got to play with 10 men, we have to play with 10 men,” he said when asked about Jhingan’s red card.
Fans react to the match
Fans had mixed reactions to the match. One fan said, “India is very lucky to get that draw. Singapore basically gifted that goal to Rahim Ali. A loss would have put us all but out of the race to qualify. Still not in an ideal space, but we have the easiest fixtures with home games vs Singapore and Hong Kong. All in all still embarrassing how we are in such a tough spot to qualify for the Asian Cup.”
Another fan tweeted, “10 men Indian Football men’s national team earn a 1-1 draw away to Singapore in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers. A terrible display of football by India, but I take the point from such a game, Singapore can only blame themselves.”