Familiar foes Thailand and India will collide in midweek at the Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani in an international friendly ahead of their Asian Cup qualifiers next week.
These two have met a total of 26 times over the years, with Thailand leading the head-to-head standings with 12 wins, while India have won seven and seven games ended level.
Match preview
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Thailand have made huge strides forward over the last 18 months, rising 14 places in the world rankings since Japanese head coach Masatada Ishii took charge of the team back in December 2023.
Ishii led the War Elephants to the round of 16 at the Asian Cup a month after his arrival, but he was unable to get them to the third round of the World Cup Qualifiers, having finished third in their group behind China and the Korea Republic.
Like India, this match serves as preparation for the team's upcoming AFC Asian Cup final round qualifier against Turkmenistan, where they will be looking to maintain their perfect record, having beaten Sri Lanka 1-0 in their first match in March.
Thailand are aiming to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup for the ninth time this year, and while their best finish in the competition came way back in 1972, they did reach the last 16 in each of the last two editions, securing 13th place in the most recent tournament in 2023.
As far as their most notable results go, Thailand were runners up at the 2024-25 ASEAN Championship, though they have won the competition seven times, while having also earned gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games on nine occasions.
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Meanwhile, Team India is set to play a match in the Land of Smiles for the third time in six years this week, having previously participated in the 2019 and 2023 editions of the King's Cup.
The Blue Tigers earned bronze medals at the 2019 King's Cup by beating the War Elephants 1-0, which was also the last meeting between the teams, while the upcoming match will be the first time they have face off in Pathum Thani.
Manolo Marquez, who took on the head coach role on a full-time basis after leading FC Goa to the Kalinga Super Cup trophy earlier this year, will now be aiming to get his team in shape for their crucial Group C Asian Cup qualifier clash against Hong Kong on June 10 in Kowloon City.
India also played two tune-up matches in Kolkata before departing for Thailand against Santosh Trophy winners Bengal and North 24 Parganas, both of which they won by scorelines of 2-1 and 3-0, respectively.
Team News
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Pathum United midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin is the most experienced player in the Thailand squad with 70 caps and will skipper the team following an impressive club season in which he scored five goals and provided 12 assists in 37 games across all competitions.
Patrik Gustavsson, who scored all three of Thailand's goals against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in March, will not feature for the hosts this month, which will likely see Supachai Chaided lead the line in this match.
For India, Marquez has called up 20-year-old attacker Suhail Ahmad Bhat for this month's matches in Thailand and Hong Kong following his excellent season with Mohun Bagan Super Giant, who won the domestic double.
Indian legend Sunil Chhetri came out of retirement at the age of 40 back in March for the Blue Tigers clash against Bangladesh and was on the scoresheet against North 24 Parganas last week, along with Chinglensana Singh and Udanta Singh.
Thailand possible starting lineup:
Khammai; Dolah, Ballini, Haiprakhon, Kraikruan; Songkrasin, Doloh, Davis, Wonggorn, Panya; Chaided
India possible starting lineup:
Kaith; Bose, Bheke, Thangjam, Jhingan; Wangjam, Ralte, Colaco, Fernandes, Kumam; Chhetri
We say: Thailand 1-1 India
While India have won the last two meetings between these sides, Thailand are a team on the up in recent times and produced two solid performances against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka back in March.
This looks like a very even matchup on paper, and we feel there will be nothing to split these two at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
