The 23-player squad announced by coach Anthony Hudson on the afternoon of September 14th gathers the best players of Thai football such as Chanathip Songkrasin, Supachok Sarachart, Supachai Jaided, Nicholas Mickelson...
Some players who participated in ASEAN Cup 2026 such as Sarach Yooyen, Seksan Ratree, Manuel Tom Bihr... were also summoned. However, some familiar faces of the "War Elephants" such as Theerathon Bunmathan, Suphanat, Ben Davis... were not present at this gathering for various reasons.
FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 is the first tournament organized by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), for Southeast Asian teams and guests. The tournament will take place during the FIFA Days from September 24 to October 5.
The 14 teams will be divided into 2 Division 1 and Division 2 divisions. The Thai team is in Group B of Division 1 with the Vietnamese, Filipino and Pakistani teams. In Group A, there are the host teams Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh. The top two teams in each group will compete for the championship.
FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 received great attention from Thai media as they will meet Vietnam again. In the ASEAN Cup 2026 final, Thailand lost to Vietnam 2-4 overall (losing 0-2 at home, drawing 2-2 away).
Coach Anthony Hudson hopes to join his students to repay the debt to the Vietnamese team. He said: "This time, we will face Vietnam again at the FIFA ASEAN Cup, after participating in the ASEAN Cup. The Vietnamese team has the strongest squad. They have been preparing for more than two months before the tournament. Overall, I am satisfied with the performance of the players in both matches against them at the ASEAN Cup, and I am very happy to face the strongest squad of Vietnam.
The English coach further emphasized: "Honestly, I am disappointed with the results at the ASEAN Cup, but overall, if we can ignore this result, I am proud of all the players. More importantly, we still have one more match before meeting Vietnam. I think I and all the players are very excited and eager to meet them again.
According to the group stage schedule, the Thai national team will play their first match against Pakistan on September 26, followed by a match against Vietnam on September 29, and finally a match against the Philippines on October 2. The group winner will advance straight to the final, while the second-placed team will compete for third place with the runner-up of the remaining group on October 5.
