Thailand national football team

The 1998 Tiger Cup controversy

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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.

2000 AFC Asian Cup

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 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.

2000 AFF Championship

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.^[6]

2002 AFF Championship

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.^{[8] [9]}

2004 AFC Asian Cup

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.

2007 AFC Asian Cup

Thailand in the match with Oman in AFC Asian Cup 2007

Thailand playing in the first leg of the 2007 AFF Football Championship finals at the National Stadium in Singapore. Singapore eventually won the match 2–1, and the championship.

Thailand football teams logo (2006–2017)

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.

On 23 September 2009, Bryan Robson agreed to become coach of Thailand national team in his first foray into international football management.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12]

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. In the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, Thailand reached the final after topping their group and knocking out Malaysia 3–1 on aggregate.^[13] 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 frailities 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.

2014 AFF Championship

Thailand national team celebrating after winning the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Malaysia.

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.^[15] 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.

2016 AFF Championship

On the first leg of the finals that was held in Bogor, Thailand lost 2–1 to Indonesia.^[17] 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.^[18]

2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (AFC)

Thailand national team during King's Cup 2017

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.^[19][20] 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 Minh Chau Nguyen 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.^[21] 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.

2019 AFC Asian Cup

After the elimination from World Cup campaign, 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.