Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Phnom Penh: Safuwan Baharudin scored a double as Singapore registered a 4-0 win over Cambodia in their 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 opening match on Thursday.
Khairul Amri Kamal opened the scoring just nine minutes into the match at the National Olympic Stadium before Safuwan registered his first goal on 21 minutes.
The LionsXII defender completed his brace after 35 minutes while Fazrul Nawaz Shahul Hameed scored their fourth goal to take home three points for the Bernd Stange-led side.
The teams in Round 2 will compete according to a double round robin format, and the qualification matches will be held from June 11, 2015 to March 29, 2016.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup finals.