Thai national soccer team

This article is about the Thai men's national soccer team . For the women's team, see Thai Women's National Football Team .

Thailand
( Thai : ฟุตบอล ทีม ชาติ ไทย )

Nickname (s)	Changsuek ( ช้าง ศึก ; "The War Elephants")
Association	Football Association of Thailand
confederacy	AFC
Technical sponsor	Grand Sport
Head coach	Akira Nishino (since 2019)
captain	Teerasil Dangda
Record scorer	Kiatisak Senamuang (71)
Record player	Kiatisak Senamuang (134)
Home stadium	Rajamangala National Stadium
FIFA code	THA
FIFA rank	113th (1178 points) (as of July 16, 2020)
First jersey Second jersey Third jersey
statistics
First international match South Vietnam 2-1 Thailand ( South Vietnam ; unknown date 1956?)
Biggest win Thailand 10-0 Brunei ( Bangkok , Thailand ; May 24, 1971)
Biggest defeat Great Britain (amateurs) 9-0 Thailand ( Melbourne , Australia ; 26 November 1956)
Successes in tournaments
Asian Championship
Participation in the finals	7 ( first : 1972 )
Best results	3rd place in 1972
(As of November 19, 2019)

The Thai national soccer team ( Thai : ฟุตบอล ทีม ชาติ ไทย ) is a representative selection that represents the Southeast Asian Kingdom of Thailand in soccer. The team is subordinate to the Football Association of Thailand (FAT).

The record player is Kiatisuk Senamuang , also known as Zico in Thailand . The record goal scorer is Piyapong Piew-on , who scored a total of 77 international goals for the Thai national team between 1981 and 1997, many of them in games not recognized by FIFA as A internationals, e.g. B. as part of the Olympic qualification.

National team history

A first Thai team was formed as early as 1917, and the first official international match is said to have taken place in 1956 against South Vietnam. The game ended in a 2-1 win for the Thais, but FIFA say the Olympic preliminary match against the UK amateur team will be their first official international match. At that time, Thailand took part in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne , where they were eliminated after this 9-0 defeat against Great Britain in the first round and thus suffered the highest defeat in history.

Under the German coach Günther Glomb , who coached the team from 1968 to 1985, the team again qualified for the Olympic Games in 1968. At the Olympic soccer tournament in Mexico City , Thailand was eliminated after three defeats in the preliminary round.

The team has already had eight different German coaches in its history, most recently Winfried Schäfer from 2011 to 2013. The current squad includes defender Manuel Bihr from Herrenberg in Baden-Württemberg for the first time as a German-Thai player.

Thailand at the soccer world championships

Thailand has not yet managed to qualify for a World Cup. Although the Thai Football Association joined FIFA on June 25, 1925 , it did not qualify for the World Cup for almost 50 years. For the first time, a Thai team was involved in qualifying for the 1974 World Cup in Germany. The Thais lost the first World Cup qualifier on May 16, 1973 in the South Korean capital Seoul with 0: 1 against South Vietnam. After further defeats against Israel , South Korea and Malaysia , the team was eliminated pointless and goalless. The other qualifying rounds were also unsuccessful.

The Thais got the furthest in 2002 , when the team managed to eliminate Lebanon , Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the first round and qualify for the final round in Asia. There you met Iran , Saudi Arabia , Bahrain and Iraq . The Thai team did not manage to win even one game, but they drew against the teams from Iran and Iraq in Bangkok , and against Bahrain they drew twice. With a total of four points, the Thais came last in the group.

In qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, North Korea and the UAE failed .

As part of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup , Thailand met Japan , Oman and Bahrain. There she couldn't win a game, however, in the end there was only one draw away against Bahrain. After the failure, coach Charnwit Polcheewin resigned from his position. Due to the poor results during qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, they fell back to 111th place in the world rankings. His successor, Peter Reid , from England , was announced in August 2008.

The qualification for the 2014 World Cup began in Thailand in the second round with games against the Palestinian Authority . With a 1-0 win at the I-Mobile stadium and a 2-2 win, Thailand qualified for the third round, in which they met Australia , Oman and Saudi Arabia . Only the first leg against Oman was won. A win in the second leg would have made it possible to qualify for the fourth round, but Thailand were eliminated from bottom of the group with a 2-0 win.

In qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, the team met Iraq , the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam in the second round . With four wins and two draws, the Thais were group winners and qualified for the next round. In this, however, they could not achieve a win and only two draws in ten games (each in Bangkok against Australia and the United Arab Emirates) and failed as the bottom of the group.

Thailand at the Asian Football Championships

Thailand at the 2007 Asian Championships

For the first time Thailand wanted to qualify for the Asian Cup in 1968 . At that time, they finished second in the qualifying group behind Hong Kong and were eliminated.

Four years later, the team made it to the finals, which was also held in the Thai capital Bangkok . In the first game of the tournament, the hosts lost 2-0 to Kuwait . This was followed by a 1-1 draw against Iraq and a 3-2 defeat against Iran, with the team leading 2-0 in this game up to the 80th minute. Despite this defeat, the Thais finished second in their group and reached the semi-finals, where they lost to South Korea 2-1 on penalties after they had been 1-1 after extra time. Thailand won the game for third place on penalties against Cambodia 5: 3 (2: 2 a.s.).

After that success, Thailand missed out on the next four finals. Only 20 years later was a Thai team able to qualify for the Asian Cup. In qualifying for the 1992 Asian Cup, South Korea was eliminated. At the finals in Japan , however, the team only drew twice (1-1 against Qatar and 0-0 against China ) before they lost 4-0 to Saudi Arabia and were eliminated in the preliminary round.

At the 1996 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, Thailand started the tournament with a 6-0 defeat against Saudi Arabia. The games against Iran (1: 3) and Iraq (1: 4) were also lost, so that the team finished the preliminary round with no points in the group bottom. The final round of the Asian Cup four years later also ended with the preliminary round for Thailand after the Thais lost 2-0 to Iraq and 1-1 against Iran and Lebanon. At the 2004 Asian Cup , all preliminary round matches - 0: 3 against Iran, 1: 4 against Japan and 0: 2 against Oman - were lost, so Thailand ended the tournament as the worst team, as in 1996.

Also in the 2007 finals , in which Thailand was one of the four hosts, the team was eliminated early. In group A, they fought 1: 1 against Iraq, before winning 2-0 over Oman for the first time in a final round in regular time. Nevertheless, it was not enough to advance, as Thailand lost 4-0 to Australia and therefore had to complete the preliminary round in third place due to the poorer direct comparison against the Australians.

Overview of the performance of Thailand at the Asian soccer championships:

year	Host country	Participation until ...	opponent	Result
1968	Iran	no qualification	-	-
1972	Thailand	3rd place match	Cambodia	5: 3 n.e.
1976	Iran	Qualified but withdrawn	-	-
1980	Kuwait	no qualification	-	-
1984	Singapore	no qualification	-	-
1988	Qatar	no qualification	-	-
1992	Japan	Preliminary round	Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar	2 points, 1: 5 d.
1996	UAE	Preliminary round	Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq	0 points, 2:13 d.
2000	Lebanon	Preliminary round	Iran, Iraq, Lebanon	2 points, 2: 4 d.
2004	China	Preliminary round	Japan, Iran, Oman	0 pts., 1: 9 T.
2007	Indonesia / Malaysia Thailand / Vietnam	Preliminary round	Iraq, Australia, Oman	4 points, 3: 5 d.
2011	Qatar	no qualification	-	-
2015	Australia	no qualification	-	-
2019	UAE	Round of 16	China	1: 2

Regional championships

ASEAN soccer championship

Thailand at the ASEAN Championships 2008 in Phuket

Thailand at the ASEAN Championships 2008 in Phuket

Thailand was much more successful at the ASEAN football championship (Southeast Asian championship, formerly Tiger Cup , now AFF Suzuki Cup ). Overall, the team was able to win the competition four times. The first time in 1996, where the Tiger Cup was held for the first time. Malaysia could be defeated 1-0 in the final. The winner of the winning goal was the upcoming national hero Kiatisak Senamuang . He scored a total of 5 goals in this tournament. In 1998 the team was part of a scandal during the tournament. In the final and decisive group game, neither Thailand nor Indonesia wanted to win the game. The winner of the game, and thus the group winner, should have entered the semi-finals in Vietnam. However, neither team was interested in playing there. After the first half ended 0-0, there were 5 more goals in the second half. The last goal came from an own goal by Indonesian player Mursyid Effendi in the 89th minute. The Indonesian goalkeeper made no move to hold the ball and Thailand was in the semi-finals. Thailand went down 3-0 against Vietnam in the semi-finals. After the tournament, both the Thai and Indonesian federations were fined $ 40,000 . In addition, the associations were not allowed to play international games for three months. The own goal shooter was banned from football for the rest of his life. The top scorer of the tournament was the Thai Netipong Sritong-in with seven goals scored and the team finished fourth.

In 2000 and 2002 the Thais won the tournament. Both times you faced Indonesia in the final and emerged victorious. At the tournament in 2000 Worrawoot Srimaka was next to Gendut Christiawan top scorer with five goals. Worrawoot Srimaka already took part in the competition in 1996 and was also there for Thailand in 2002. Player of the 2000 tournament was Kiatisak Senamuang .

The worst performance at the ASEAN soccer championship results from 2004. The team was eliminated in the preliminary round. With an 8-0 victory over the East Timores team , Thailand's highest victory to date was achieved in this tournament, but as third in the group they missed the next round.

In 2007, 2008 and 2012, both as co-hosts, Thailand reached the final. All finals were played in home and return matches and were narrowly lost in the end.

In 2014, Thailand won the next and fourth title after twelve years.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	opponent	Result
1996	Singapore	final	Malaysia	1st place
1998	Vietnam	3rd place match	Indonesia	4th Place
2000	Thailand	final	Indonesia	1st place
2002	Indonesia / Singapore	final	Indonesia	1st place
2004	Vietnam / Malaysia	Preliminary round	Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, East Timor	7 pts., 13: 4 d.
2007	Thailand / Singapore	final	Singapore	2nd place
2008	Thailand / Indonesia	final	Vietnam	2nd place
2010	Vietnam / Indonesia	Preliminary round	Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos	2 points, 3: 4 d.
2012	Thailand / Malaysia	final	Singapore	2nd place
2014	Singapore / Vietnam	final	Malaysia	1st place

Southeast Asian Games

The team was also very successful at the SEA Games and has won the title 9 times so far. Judging by the successes at the ASEAN soccer championships and the SEA Games, Thailand is the most successful national team in Southeast Asia . The SEA Games were played by the senior teams until 1999. Since 2001 only the U-23 national teams of one country have been admitted. For the successes of Thailand's U-23s at the SEA Games from 2001 see: Thai national football team (U-23 men) .

The first tournament of the SEA Games took place in Bangkok , Thailand in 1959 . The team reached the final straight away but had to admit defeat to the team from South Vietnam . At that time there were still two national teams from Vietnam. In 1965 the final was reached again. After 90 minutes both teams drew 2-2 and there were two winners of the tournament. From 1981 to 1985 Thailand won the tournament 3 times in a row for the first time. The total dominance of Thailand in this tournament began in the early 1990s. In 1991 they lost to Indonesia 3: 4 on penalties in the final. But since 1993 no other nation has won this tournament except Thailand. One of the stars of the SEA Games was Kiatisak Senamuang , who played his first international matches for Thailand in 1993. He took part in all SEA Games competitions from 1993 to 1999 and won a total of four gold medals. In 1999 he was the tournament's top scorer with six goals.

year	city	Participation until ...	opponent	Result
1959	Bangkok	final	South Vietnam	2nd place
1961	Rangoon	3rd place match	South Vietnam	3rd place (shared)
1965	Kuala Lumpur	final	Burma	1st place (shared)
1967	Bangkok	3rd place match	Laos	3rd place
1969	Rangoon	final	Burma	2nd place
1971	Kuala Lumpur	3rd place match	South Vietnam	3rd place (shared)
1973	Singapore	Preliminary round	Singapore, Malaysia	1: 2 pts., 1 d.
1975	Bangkok	final	Malaysia	1st place
1977	Kuala Lumpur	final	Malaysia	2nd place
1979	Jakarta	3rd place match	Indonesia	3rd place
1981	Manila	final	Malaysia	1st place
1983	Singapore	final	Singapore	1st place
1985	Bangkok	final	Singapore	1st place
1987	Jakarta	3rd place match	Burma	3rd place
1989	Kuala Lumpur	3rd place match	Indonesia	4th Place
1991	Manila	final	Indonesia	2nd place
1993	Singapore	final	Myanmar	1st place
1995	Chiang Mai	final	Vietnam	1st place
1997	Jakarta	final	Indonesia	1st place
1999	Bandar Seri Begawan	final	Vietnam	1st place

Youth teams

In the youth field, the country's U-17 team became Asian champions in 1998 and took part in the 1997 and 1999 World Championships in New Zealand. There, however, the Thais lost all games and were eliminated in the preliminary round. Thailand has not yet qualified for the junior soccer world championship .

Thailand did not qualify for the Summer Olympics after 1968. Most recently, qualification for the 2008 Summer Games was missed.

Venues

Unlike the German national soccer team , the national team of Thailand has a national stadium where almost all games are played. It is the Rajamangala National Stadium , which seats almost 50,000 spectators. Built for the 1998 Asian Games , it has served as a home since then. Like almost all stadiums in Thailand, it has a tartan track . The stadium is located in the Bang Kapi district of Bangkok and is not connected to public transport. In the summer of 2000, FC Bayern Munich played against the Thai national team in this stadium. In 2004 the German national soccer team made their first guest appearance in the Rajamangala Stadium. Before the construction of the Rajamangala National Stadium, the Suphachalasai Stadium , built in 1935, was used as the national stadium .

Playing attire and jersey

Traditionally, the Thai national team has always played in red and blue jerseys. Red is used for home games, blue for away games. The colors are borrowed from the national colors of the country. In November 2008, the team played in yellow jerseys for the first time, with light blue. Yellow is considered the color of King Bhumibol as he was born on a Monday and is assigned to that day according to the traditional assignment of days of the week and colors to yellow. With the outfitter Nike , the association also signed a contract with a foreign company for the first time. Prior to this, the national sporting goods manufacturers Grand Sport and FBT had supplied the national teams. The contract with Nike was signed in 2007 and was valid for five years. It is estimated that the contract was worth more than 150 million baht.

statistics

As of November 19, 2019

Record player

Games	Surname	position	Period
134 (131)	Kiatisuk Senamuang	attack	1993 to 2007
110	Totchtawan Sripan	midfield	1993 to 2009
104 (103)	Teerasil Dangda	attack	since 2007
100 (<100)	Datsakorn Thonglao	attack	2003 to 2017
100 (94)	Piyapong Piew-on	attack	1981 to 1997
094	Dusit Chalermsan	Defense	1994 to 2004
090	Niweat Siriwong	Defense	1997 to 2012
087	Natee Thongsookkaew	Defense	1986 to 2000
086	Surachai Jaturapattarapong	midfield	1991 to 2002
085	Attaphol Buspakom	midfield	1985 to 1998
085	Niwat Srisawat	attack	1967 to 1979

Record goal scorers

Gates	Surname	Games	Quota	AM gates
71	Kiatisuk Senamuang	134 (131)	0.53	1
70	Piyapong Piew-on	100 (94)	0.7	NT
47	Teerasil Dangda	104 (103)	0.45	1
31	Sarayuth Chaikamdee	049	0.63	0
29	Vithoon Kijmongkolsak	084	0.35	0
28	Daoyod Dara	070	0.4	NT
28	Worrawoot Srimaka	063	0.44	0
28	Niwat Srisawat	085	0.33	NT

Trainer

• Peter Schnittger (1976–1978)
• Burkhard Ziese (1985–1986)
• Dettmar Cramer (1997)
• Chatchai Paholpat (1992–1997 assistant coach, 1997–2003, 2004 coach)
• Sigfried Held (2004-2005)
• Winfried Schäfer (2011-2013)
• Stefan Brasas (2011–) goalkeeping coach
• Surachai Jaturapattarapong (2013)
• Milovan Rajevac (2017-2019)
• Sirisak Yodyardthai (2019) interim trainer
• Akira Nishino (2019–)

International matches against German-speaking national soccer teams

International match
Thailand - Germany on December 21, 2004

In their only game so far against a German-speaking team, the Thais were trained by the former German national player Sigfried Held .

	date	place	Home team	result	Visiting team
1.	12/21/2004	Bangkok	Thailand	1: 5	Germany

So far, no games have been played against Austria , Liechtenstein and Switzerland .

See also

• Thai National Football Team (U-17 Juniors)
• Thai National Football Team (U-20 Men)
• List of national football teams (men)

Web links

Commons : Thailand national football team  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Football Association of Thailand (Thai)
• Information relating to football in Thailand (English)
• All of Thailand's international matches between 1956 and 2000

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FIFA only counts 131 games, RSSSF 134.
2. ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Glomb, Günther. In: Hardy Grüne , Lorenz Knieriem: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 8: Player Lexicon 1890–1963. Agon-Sportverlag, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 , p. 110.
4. ↑ fifa.com: Final tables of the 3rd round for the 2010 World Cup qualification
5. ↑ ESPNSoccernet: Resignation of Charnwit (English)
6. ↑ bangkokpost.com: Contract details on the online edition of the Bangkok Post  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ rsssf.com: Details of the tournament
8. ↑ youtube.com: Pictures and goals of the game
9. ↑ rsssf.com: Detailed overview of the tournament with a list of goalscorers
10. ↑ RSSSF.com: Qualification for the 2008 Olympic Summer Games
11. ↑ nationmultimedia.com: Report in the Nation ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ footballshirtculture.com: Pictures from the presentation
13. ↑ Thailand - Record International Players (Numbers in brackets: Differing FIFA counting according to FACT Sheet FIFA Century Club , as of December 4, 2019)
14. ↑ Thailand 1: 5 Germany