Thailand national football team

The team was founded in 1915 as the Siam national football team and played its first unofficial match (against a team of Europeans) at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club Stadium on 20 December of that year. On 25 April 1916, King Vajiravudh established the Football Association of Siam where it was later affiliated with FIFA in 1925 as the first Asian nation to gain the recognition.[5][6] The team played its first international match in 1930 against the Indochina national team, which included both South Vietnamese and French players. Since its introduction into the region, football has become a very popular sports aside from muay thai and takraw for Siam sports team and its governing association were renamed in 1939 when Siam became Thailand.[7][8]

Thailand appeared in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, where they lost to Great Britain by a score of 0–9 (the largest defeat in team history) thus failed to advance to the quarter-finals. In 1965, Thailand won the first place in the Southeast Asian Games for the first time. The team made another appearance at the Summer Olympics in 1968, losing to Bulgaria 0–7, Guatemala 1–4, and Czechoslovakia 0–8 en route to a first-round exit which also Thailand's latest appearance in the Olympics. During the 1992 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Thailand gained one of their significant victories when they able to beat South Korea by 2–1, a team who had qualified for consecutive FIFA World Cup (in 1986 and 1990) and known as the strongest team in Asia at the time before defeating Bangladesh by 1–0 to winning the group and therefore qualifying for the 1992 AFC Asian Cup. The War Elephants then put on a strong performance at the tournament, drawing with Qatar and the eventual 3rd place China before losing to eventual runners up Saudi Arabia by 0–4. In 1994, team manager Thawatchai Sartjakul assembled a team that has been renounced as the "Dream Team" with key players Kiatisuk Senamuang, Tawan Sripan and Dusit Chalermsan.[9]

In 1996, Thailand defeated Malaysia 1–0 to win the ASEAN Football Championship (then called the Tiger Cup) for the first time. Thailand were favourites to regain the crown in 2007, 2008 and 2012 only to lose tight finals to Singapore and Vietnam respectively.

Thailand football team has competed three times in the Asian Games, making the semifinals in 1990, 1998 and 2002.

The 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its history, the competition was co-hosted by four nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Thailand participated in the competition with high expectation of their golden generation. However, Thailand failed to win any matches, with the team lost 0–6 to Saudi Arabia, 1–3 to Iran and 1–4 to Iraq, thus stood bottom in the group.

The regional 1998 ASEAN Football Championship tournament was perhaps most infamous in respect to Thailand football history. In what was supposedly a sporting event, the group stage match between Thailand and Indonesia was marred with an unsportsmanlike attempt. At the time both teams had already qualified for semi-finals, but with knowledge that winners would have to face hosts Vietnam, while the losing team would play the supposedly weaker Singapore. There was also technical incentive that facing Vietnam would mean moving training bases from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi – which none of the teams wished to do.[10]

The first half saw very little action as both teams barely making attempt to score. During the second half both teams managed to score, partly thanks to half-hearted defending, resulting in a 2–2 tie after 90 minutes. However the real infamy didn't take place until extra time, in which an Indonesian defender deliberately kicked the ball into his own goal with a Thai attacker running towards the ball.[11] FIFA fined both teams $40,000 for "violating the spirit of the game".

Ironically in the semi-finals, Thailand lost to Vietnam, and Indonesia also lost to Singapore, pitting the teams together once again for the third-place playoff. Indonesia eventually won by penalty shootout. As for the final, the unfancied Singapore team made one of the competition's biggest shocks by defeating Vietnam.

Thailand qualified to the 2000 AFC Asian Cup held in Lebanon, which made Thailand sharing group with host Lebanon, Iran and Iraq. Thailand, however, performed relatively poor in the tournament. After being defeated by Iraq 0–2, Thailand successfully drew giant Iran 1–1 but again Thailand only drew Lebanon with the same result, effectively putting them in third place, superior to Lebanon on goal differences. But since Thailand failed to gain any win, they were eliminated, by becoming the worst third-placed team as the tournament only featured three groups.

The final between Thailand and Indonesia, at a sold out and energised Rajamangala, was almost a carbon copy of their encounter in the group stages. The War Elephants again triumphed 4–1 with Worrawoot setting up camp at the opponents’ goal. The 28-year-old scored twice in their first match and in the final struck a hat-trick in the first 32 minutes.[13]

In the final match between Thailand and Indonesia, Thailand took a 2–0 lead against hosts Indonesia by the end of the first half. However, the Indonesians battled back to level the score and force the game into a penalty shootout, which was won 4–2 by the Thais.[14][15]

Thailand qualified to the 2004 AFC Asian Cup in China, once again and Thailand was put into a tough group, which comprised Japan, Iran and debutant Oman. Nonetheless, with vast experiences in the Asian Cup, Thailand was, again, expected to pass through if they didn't lose to Iran and defeated Oman. However, Thailand's performance had even become a full disaster, worse than four years ago. Thailand opened their account with a 0–3 defeat to Iran, before losing 1–4 to Japan, effectively eliminated Thailand from the tournament. In the last match, Thailand lost again to debutant Oman, thus became the worst-performed team in the whole tournament. Thailand only scored 1 goal in the tournament.

Thailand participated in 2007 AFC Asian Cup as co-host, together with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. This time, Thailand, considered to be the strongest host team among the four, was placed with debutant Australia, Oman and Iraq. Unlike 2004, Thailand had become more cautious and carefully prepared than before, as Thailand was beared as the leading Southeast Asian team, together with Indonesia, in the tournament, since both two participated in the latest edition.

Thailand opened their account by managing a 1–1 draw to Iraq, and it was not considered as a good result since Thailand was expected to outclass Iraq. Thailand took vengeance on Oman by defeating Oman 2–0, making the first time Thailand ever won a match in the Asian Cup on 90 minutes. With 4 points ahead, Thailand had a high chance to qualify to the next round for the first time since 1972, but Thailand's dream was totally shattered by Australia in a 0–4 demolition. This result ended Thailand's dream and once again, Thailand was knocked out from the group stage. Indonesia and Malaysia also failed in the same way, while Vietnam despite also lost the last match like the co-hosts, surprised by qualify into the next round for the first time in its history. Thailand's performance was heavily criticized aftermath, and it was seen as the end of Thailand's golden generation, with the retirements of Kiatisuk Senamuang, Pipat Thonkanya and Tawan Sripan. Pipat and Tawan would remain to play later, but received lesser calls aftermath before total retirement.

Peter Reid became Thailand national football team manager after signing a four-year contract in September 2008.[16][17]Reid then had left his position by mutual consent after a year in charge on 9 September 2009[18], as his team fail to clinch the championship of 2008 AFF Championship after 2–3 on aggregate lost to Vietnam in final. On 23 September 2009, Bryan Robson agreed to become coach of Thailand national team in his first foray into international football management.[19] He was contracted to manage the team through to the 2014 World Cup. On 14 November 2009, Robson celebrated his first competitive match in charge of the team with a 3–1 away victory against Singapore in a 2011 Asian Cup qualifying group match.[20] On 18 November 2009, Robson then suffered his first loss – a 1–0 defeat against Singapore on home soil. In January 2010, this was followed by two goalless draws with Jordan and Iran during 2011 Asian Cup qualifying. On 3 March 2010, Robson's Thailand suffered a 1–0 defeat by the hands of Iran in Tehran in their final Group E game, effectively ending their hopes of qualifying for 2011 Asian Cup. On 11 August 2010, Robson led Thailand to another victory against Singapore with a score of 1–0 on home soil. In September 2010, Robson overcame Bob Houghton's India in a friendly with a score of 2–1 away from home. In December 2010, Robson failed to bring Thailand past the Group A of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup after managing only draws against Laos and Malaysia and losing to Indonesia. He resigned as manager on 8 June 2011.[21]

In 2011, rumours had been rife that the 61 years old Winfried Schäfer was favourite to succeed Bryan Robson, who ended his ill-fated two-year tenure earlier, citing health problems as the reason for his resignation.

During the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the War Elephants played well and built a lot of faith up in the fans. The attendance was nearly full house, War Elephants almost beat Australia at their home and even defeated Oman 3–0. This was in addition to the draw against Saudi Arabia, when the coach called up many young starlets to the team, which reflects on the fact that the squad have plenty of good players. Though Thailand didn't make it to the final stage after losing to Saudi Arabia, Australia and Oman altogether, Thailand's performance earned praises and recognitions from fans.

In the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, Thailand reached the final after topping their group and knocking out Malaysia 3–1 on aggregate.[22] In the final Thailand lost the first leg 3–1 to Singapore and won the second leg 1–0, but lost on aggregate by 3–2.

In the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification Thailand suffered a massive setback, with their defensive frailties fully exposed by their Middle Eastern rivals. Thailand lost all 6 games in the qualifiers, conceding 21 goals in the process. In June 2013, Schäfer cancelled his contract. The FA of Thailand appointed Kiatisuk Senamuang as the new caretaker coach for national team. His first task was friendly match against China PR on 15 June, which Thailand decisively won 5–1.

Thailand regained the title the champion of ASEAN football upon their fourth AFF Championship. The team did not lose at any match up until the second leg of the finals and also featured a spectacular tiki-taka style 27 consecutive passes during the first leg of the finals against Malaysia.[24] Thailand ended their 12-year drought in the AFF Suzuki Cup from the late goals by Charyl Chappuis (82') and Chanathip Songkrasin which gave them a dramatic 4–3 aggregate victory over Malaysia in the second leg of the final at Bukit Jalil National Stadium. Kiatisuk Senamuang consequently became the first person to win the ASEAN Football Championship as both a player and a coach. Kiatisuk gained much praise and credit for the team's recent achievements.

On the first leg of the finals that was held in Bogor, Thailand lost 2–1 to Indonesia.[26] On the second leg of the finals, Thailand won Indonesia 2–0 at home. Thailand scored twice through Siroch Chatthong on a night when Rajamangala Stadium was filled over capacity, the final aggregate was 3–2 to Thailand.[27]

The Thai team has clearly outclassed and now dominate their regional neighbours, having won the AFF Suzuki Cup and later securing first place in all regional championships: 2015 AFF U-16 Youth Championship by the U-16 team, 2015 AFF U-19 Youth Championship by the U-19 team and football at the 2015 SEA Games by the U-23 team, with only Australia as a tough opponent they could not touch on. Elasion fuelled hope for both the players and Thai fans of finally reaching the World Cup tournament. Although chances are slim, tension is mounting as the national team commence AFC's second round for World Cup qualification.[28][29] Thailand was seeded in Pot 3 (out of 5) and was drawn to be in Group F along with Iraq, Vietnam, Indonesia and Chinese Taipei (Indonesia was later excluded due to FIFA suspension).

Thailand played home against visiting Vietnam on 24 May 2015 as their first World Cup Qualifiers match. Teerasil Dangda, Thailand's renowned striker, once again joined the rank of the national team after his loan with UD Almería ended earlier that year. Thai players dominated the match but were unable to score any goal. Thai defenders were caught off guard twice but were luckily saved by goalkeeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool's sliding tackle both time, well outside of the penalty box. The Vietnamese "stubborn, overly aggressive" performance was rewarded by a red card to Nguyễn Minh Châu when he pulled Sarach Yooyen down. Not much later, Pokklaw Anan struck from 20 yards away to give Thailand the victory goal. In a match against Chinese Taipei, Teerasil scored 2 goals in the first half giving Thailand a 2–0 win. On 9 September, Thailand played against Iraq and scored 2 late goals even the Iraqis have a 2–0 lead making the score 2–2.A month later Thailand won against Vietnam 3–0 at Hanoi making them have 10 points, the Thais then beat Chinese Taipei 4–2 at Bangkok.On 24 March 2016, Thailand drew with Iraq 2–2 at Tehran allowing them to qualify for the next round as group F winners.[30] In the last round, Kiatisuk's men faced many hard opponents, when they shared same group with Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their previous opponent, Iraq. Once again, Thailand was eliminated without winning a match in the last round, when they just recorded only two points out of ten matches.

After the elimination from World Cup campaign, Kiatisuk resigned, and Thailand appointed Milovan Rajevac as coach, thus marked for the first time a non-Brazilian/German/English coach was head of Thailand. Milovan was appointed ahead of 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Thailand was drawn into group A together with host UAE, Bahrain and India. Before the tournament, Thailand was tipped favorites to progress.

However, the first match of AFC Asian Cup went on as a complete disaster, with Thailand lost the match to India by 1–4. Following the opening match, coach Rajevac was sacked and Sirisak Yodyardthai became interim coach on 7 January 2019. Following his appointment, Sirisak guided Thailand to a 1–0 win over Bahrain and a 1–1 draw with hosts UAE in West Asia, which was considered as significant since Thailand never gained any point, nor even a win, in the region before. This was enough to see the War Elephants qualify for the knockout stage of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 47 years, and their success was greeted with congratulation from the FA THAILAND.[31] Thailand encountered China in the round of sixteen, their first knockout stage's match since 1972. Thailand played well, taking an early lead by Supachai Jaided at 32'. However, China responded quickly in the second half to eliminate Thailand with the result 2–1. Despite this, it was considered as a success in modern Thai football history.

Thailand participated in the second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where under the new Japanese coach of Akira Nishino they were surprisingly joined with other three fellow Southeast Asian neighbours of Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia; alongside West Asia's juggernaut United Arab Emirates. Being in such a tough group, Thailand however was still being tipped favourably to advance because of its impressive performance in the Asian Cup earlier. Thailand's opening game against Vietnam at home, however, was held in a draw 0–0,[32] before defeating Indonesia in an away game by 3–0.[33] In another home game against the West Asian giant, Thailand was able to claim victory against the United Arab Emirates by 2–1 to top the group position.[34] The incredible performance of Thailand under Nishino gave increasing hope for many Thai supporters about possibility of reaching World Cup but it was temporarily halted as the Thais were stunned in their away game against Malaysia by 1–2 which subsequently causing them to losing their first place in the group to long-time rival of Vietnam.[35] In their away match against Vietnam, Thailand sought to reclaim its top spot but both were held goalless again despite getting chance through a penalty kick which was failed to be successfully converted by defender Theerathon Bunmathan and two Vietnamese disallowed goals which prevented Thailand from being taken the lead, thus causing the team to fall to third place in the group behind Vietnam and Malaysia.[36]

In older days the kit consisted of a red jersey, red shorts and red socks.

The Thai senior national team used to play with a kit made by local provider FBT. This contract lasted until June 2007.[37] (However, FBT were still kit providers for the U-23 team until Grand Sport took over in 2012.)

In July 2007, Nike became kit providers, and from October that year, the team played in an all-yellow home kit in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 80th birthday (yellow being the royal color), having used two other yellow kits in friendlies against China on 16 May 2007[38] and Qatar on 2 July 2007.[39]

From October 2012 through 2016, Nike was replaced by Grand Sport in a deal worth 96M baht (3.1M USD).[40] The new home kit of Thailand reverted to all-red and the away kit to all-blue. However, the order was reversed from the 2014 AFF Championship.

In September 2016, the Thai national team signed a four-year contract with Warrix Sports to be their kit provider from 2017 until 2020.[41]

On 4 January 2017, Warrix introduced a new Thailand home and away kit. The home kit was all black and the away kit was all white, honouring their late King Bhumibol for a year after his passing, with black and white being the traditional Thai colors of mourning.[42]

In March 2018, Warrix released an all-blue first kit, an all-red second kit, and a white-black third kit.[43]

In December 2018, Warrix released a dark blue home kit, a dark red away kit, and white third kit for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

In May 2019, Warrix released a new kit for the 2019 King's Cup consisting of a yellow shirt with white shorts and socks – yellow reportedly being the favorite color of the newly crowned King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

The Thailand national football team play most of their home matches in Rajamangala National Stadium in Bang Kapi District of Bangkok. Built for the 1998 Asian Games, the stadium is the largest sporting facility in Thailand with a capacity of 49,749, all seated. International matches are also occasionally played at Supachalasai Stadium, 700th Anniversary Stadium, 80th Birthday Stadium, Thammasat Stadium, Chang Arena, and SCG Stadium.

Thailand fixtures are broadcast by Thairath TV (for friendlies and round 2 of FIFA World Cup - AFC qualification matches) and Channel 7 (for the AFF Suzuki Cup, possible round 3 of FIFA World Cup - AFC qualification, and possible AFC Asian Cup matches, due to broadcasting contract with Lagardère Sports and Entertainment).

• Only record the results that affect the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. See FIFA 'A' matches criteria.

  Win   Draw   Loss

The following 23 players were called up for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round match against Malaysia on 14 November and Vietnam on 19 November 2019. Caps and goals are accurate as of 19 November 2019 after the match against Vietnam.

The following players have also been called up to the Thailand squad within the last 12 months.

Notes:

• ^INJ Withdrew from squad due to injury
• ^PRE Preliminary squad
• ^SUS Suspended
• ^RET Retired from the national team
• ^WD Player withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons

Note

• * : Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Note

• ¹ : The under 23 national team played at the 1992 to present.
• * : Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Note

• * : Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

• Olympic Games

• First round (2): 1956, 1968

• AFC Asian Cup

• Third place (1): 1972

• Asian Games

• Fourth place (4): 1990, 1998, 2002, 2014

• AFF Championship

• Winners (5): 1996, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016
• Runners-Up (3): 2007, 2008, 2012

• Southeast Asian Games

• Gold medal (9): 1965*, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999
• Silver medal (4): 1959, 1969, 1977, 1991
• Bronze medal (5): 1961, 1967, 1971, 1979, 1987

• King's Cup

• Winners (15): 1976*, 1979, 1980*, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2017
• Runners-Up (11): 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2018
• Third place (11): 1968, 1973, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2013*

• China Cup

• Runners-Up (1): 2019

• Indonesian Independence Cup

• Winners (1): 1994

• Korea Cup

• Third place (1) : 1977*
• Fourth place (1) : 1980

• VFF Cup

• Winners (2): 2006, 2008

• 3 Nations in Taiwan

• Winners (1): 1971

• 4 Nations in Indochina

• Winners (1): 1989

• Brunei Games

• Winners (1): 1990

Note

*trophy shared