The gold medal in men's football is still the most coveted medal for Thailand, as they want to end an 8-year drought in titles at the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in December 2025.
The Thai men's football team is holding a record of 16 times winning the SEA Games gold medal, including 3 consecutive times from 1993 to 2007.
However, the last time Thailand won the gold medal in men's football was in 2017 at the 29th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. At the 31st SEA Games, the U22 Thailand team lost to U22 Indonesia 2-5 in the final match in Cambodia.
Just as the public has high expectations for the men's football championship, the country's athletes are also expected to top the medal rankings, but Mr. Gongsak Yodmani, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (STA), admitted that it will be difficult for the Thai sports delegation to dominate the medal rankings in all sports.
We expect our athletes to perform well in Olympic sports like taekwondo, weightlifting, badminton, while in other sports like track and field and swimming, they will get better results than in the previous round, even though they may not win gold medals in some events.
"There are high expectations for popular sports like football and volleyball. In particular, football is the sport that Thai fans want to win the gold medal for the most".
The draw for the 33rd SEA Games men's football tournament puts U22 Thailand in Group A with Cambodia and Timor-Leste and will play the group stage at Songkhla's Tinsulanonda Stadium.
"Every match at the SEA Games is very important. Our goal is to win a gold medal because we are the host country. If the preparation goes well as planned, this will be a good opportunity for us to go far and win the championship," said head coach Thawatchai dumrong-ongtrakul of U22 Thailand.
The 33rd Southeast Asian Games, with 50 medley events, will take place in three host cities: Bangkok, Chon buri and Songkhla, from December 9 to 20, 2025.
