The ASEAN Cup 2026 truly begins now for Singapore.

As the bearer of Singapore football's hopes, Coach Gavin Lee has a tough challenge ahead—facing Vietnam in the ASEAN Cup 2026 on July 31.

Singapore football has endured over a decade of disappointment since winning the Southeast Asian championship in 2012. Many coaches have come and gone, but none could restore the national team to the region's top status.

Singapore's coach is younger than some players in the squad.

Now, expectations rest on the shoulders of Gavin Lee, who took over the team in June 2025 after the departure of Japanese coach Tsutomu Ogura. Initially only an interim coach, his performance quickly led the Football Association of Singapore to offer him a permanent contract.

The decision to appoint coach Gavin Lee came after he helped Singapore make history by securing a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup through qualifying. This is the first time Singapore has earned a spot in the tournament based on merit.

Notably, Gavin Lee is only 35 years old, meaning he is younger than goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud (36).

Before pursuing a coaching career, Gavin played for SCC from 2012 to 2014 as a central midfielder. After realizing he could not compete with many talented players of his generation, he decided to shift to coaching.

Gavin's coaching career began at the JSSL Singapore academy before he served as an assistant coach at Warriors and Tampines Rovers. In 2019, he was appointed head coach of Tampines Rovers, becoming the youngest coach in Singapore Premier League history. During his tenure, he led Tampines to win the 2019 Singapore Cup, twice finish as runners-up in the national league, and make their first appearance in the AFC Champions League in 2021.

In March 2024, Gavin joined the Singapore national team coaching staff as an assistant to coach Tsutomu Ogura, before being appointed interim coach and later becoming the official head coach of the Lions.

During about 15 months as an assistant to coach Ogura at the Singapore national team, Gavin was involved in building tactics, analyzing opponents, and gaining experience at the international level. After Ogura resigned for personal reasons in June 2025, Gavin took over the hot seat without disrupting the team's direction.

Under his leadership, the Singapore national team maintains a disciplined style of play, a solid defense, flexible ball possession, and resilient performances.

The challenge of facing the Vietnam national team.

Gavin Lee is seen as a representative of the modern generation of Singapore coaches, highly regarded for his calmness, clear communication, effective people management, and always putting players at the center.

Including his time as interim coach, Gavin Lee has led the Singapore national team in 10 matches, with 7 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses. Notably, he helped the Lions remain unbeaten against Hong Kong (China), India, and Bangladesh during their journey to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup.

However, Singapore's journey in the ASEAN Cup 2026 is predicted to be tougher for Gavin Lee and his players.

Facing Vietnam and Indonesia in the remaining two matches will be an extreme challenge for Singapore. Simply put, Vietnam and Indonesia are much stronger than the three teams Singapore faced in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

ESPN sports writer Gabriel Tan commented that the ASEAN Cup 2026 truly begins for Singapore after their 2-0 win over Timor Leste. "Now is the time for Singapore to prove their ability against the big boys," Gabriel Tan wrote.

Coach Gavin Lee currently has quality players such as striker Ilhan Fandi, who has scored 2 goals in the ASEAN Cup 2026. Additionally, Singapore has naturalized midfielder Song Ui-Young and veteran striker Shawal Anuar, who shone in the two matches against Cambodia and Timor Leste.

These players have somewhat filled the void left by key center-back Safuwan Baharudin and main striker Ikhsan Fandi, who are absent from the ASEAN Cup 2026 because their clubs refused to release them.

Singapore's Beritaharian newspaper argues that against an opponent like Vietnam, having only one main "weapon" will make Coach Gavin Lee's attacking approach easy to read and counter. The paper also pointed out that Singapore takes a long time to get into the match, which could become a problem when they face Vietnam.

Regardless, Singapore will have to give their best effort if they want to create surprises in the remaining two matches and hope to advance at the ASEAN Cup 2026.