Thai coach unexpectedly mentions Vietnam after being eliminated from the Asian tournament

Coach Raksapol Saianetngam made significant remarks about the Vietnam futsal team after Thailand was knocked out of the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship.

The Thailand futsal team caused a shock by losing 2-4 to Iraq, a team ranked 41 places below them on the FIFA rankings, in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Asian Futsal Championship, thus officially ending their campaign.

Immediately after this defeat, Coach Raksapol Saianetngam apologized to the home fans and candidly pointed out the reasons why his players failed to achieve the expected results.

He stated: "First of all, I want to apologize to the Thai fans for disappointing everyone. Today, we played well below our level, including losing Ronnachai Juangwongsuk to injury early in the match. However, credit must be given to Iraq; they prepared very well, while we did not perform well today.

This match wasn’t about the playing surface but rather the players’ mentality. In the previous game, we also played on this pitch and adapted quite well; the atmosphere was fine. In reality, today’s loss was not due to the field but entirely due to our team’s style and performance."

Thailand’s elimination in the quarterfinals leaves Southeast Asia with only one representative in the semifinals, as host Indonesia will face Vietnam in one of the remaining four quarterfinal matches.

Speaking about these two teams, Coach Raksapol said he would support both Vietnam and Indonesia, hoping that Southeast Asian futsal continues to close the gap and competes strongly with the continent’s top teams.

The 46-year-old coach added: "We all know that countries in Southeast Asia are developing rapidly, which is positive because teams in this region need to support each other.

Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam should help one another when competing at the Asian level. I’m glad to see Southeast Asian futsal growing and becoming more competitive. I will cheer for either Vietnam or Indonesia, hoping one of them advances to the next round."

In the group stage, the Vietnam futsal team left a fairly positive impression with two wins against Kuwait and Lebanon before suffering a narrow loss to Thailand in the final match. Meanwhile, Indonesia, the host, demonstrated strong dominance in Group A by defeating South Korea and Kyrgyzstan and forcing Iraq to fight hard for a single point.

Based on their performances, the upcoming encounter is expected to be exciting and intense, aiming to determine the best Southeast Asian futsal representative at this year’s final tournament.

The match between the Vietnam and Indonesia futsal teams will take place at 7:00 PM tonight (February 3rd).