Shawal Anuar
Muhammad Shawal bin Anuar, born on 29 April 1991 in Singapore, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Lion City Sailors in the Singapore Premier League and for the Singapore national team. He is known for scoring the fastest goal in AFC Champions League history, in 18 seconds.
Shawal began his professional career with Geylang International (2014–2019), where he worked his way from a reserve player to a regular and helped the team win the 2016 Singapore League Cup Plate. He earned his first professional contract in 2015 and later moved to Hougang United (2020–2022), winning the 2022 Singapore Cup. In December 2022, he joined the Lion City Sailors. In 2023, he scored against Tottenham in a friendly, completed a senior hat-trick in the Singapore Cup, and provided two assists in an AFC Champions League match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He was named in the 2023 Singapore Premier League Team of the Year and scored in the Singapore Cup final to help Lion City Sailors lift the trophy. In 2024 he scored in the Community Shield, and the following season he moved to a striker role, continuing to score and extend his record for the fastest goal in the AFC Champions League Two with an 18-second strike against Muangthong United. The Sailors finished as runners-up in the 2025 AFC Champions League Two final, with Shawal contributing eight goals that campaign.
Internationally, Shawal debuted for Singapore in 2016. He has scored multiple goals for the national team, including in the AFF Championship and World Cup qualifying campaigns. He helped Singapore progress in World Cup qualifiers and was among the tournament’s notable scorers in the 2024 ASEAN Championship. He studied at Kent Ridge Secondary School, where he played field hockey and badminton before focusing on football.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:11 (CET).