Thailand are looking for their first victory in Asia's final stage of World Cup qualifiers as coach Milovan Rajevac is confident his men can reach the milestone tonight when they face Iraq at Rajamangala National Stadium.
The match kicks off at 7pm and will be beamed live by Channel 7.
Both sides are no longer in contention for places at Russia 2018, and besides playing for pride, the War Elephants will have an added motivation as they have never won a match at this stage of World Cup qualifiers.
This is only the second time that the Thais have reached the final Asian stage of the World Cup qualifying event with the first coming more than a decade ago for the 2002 finals.
Both side have been buoyed by their impressive shows in their previous matches with Iraq holding Asian powerhouse Japan to a 1-1 draw and Thailand sharing points with the United Arab Emirates after a 1-1 tie in Bangkok.
The previous meeting between the two sides was a match to forget for the Thais and one to cherish for Iraq striker Mohanad Abdulraheem, who smashed in all four goals in the 4-0 victory in the same event late last year.
However, Iraq coach Basim Qasim will be without defender Rebin Solaka, who misses the match through suspension.
Rajevac yesterday told a pre-match press conference: "This will be the last home game for our team. I want the Thai fans to come and pack the stadium and cheer us.
"Iraq are a strong team and are among the top Asian sides. They have a lot of experience and are the former Asian Cup winners as well.
"We know that it will be a very difficult game for our team, although they, like us, have no chance of qualifying for the World Cup finals.
"It is good for us to play with them. We will learn from them and the most important thing is that we are thirsty to win our first game.
"I think we can do it."
Rajevac added: "To have [striker] Teerasil Dangda and [midfielder] Chanathip Songkrasin in the team is good for us and we believe that both players can help the team a lot.
"But we are also disappointed that our two other main players, [goakeeper] Kawin Thamsatchanan and [midfielder] Tanaboon Kesarat, are both injured."
Teerasil, Thailand's top striker, said: "We want to create history by winning our first match ever at this stage of the World Cup qualifying tournament.
"We are out of contention but this match is still very important for us. We want to grab our first three points and we hope that the Thai fans will come and cheer us like before."
Iraq coach Basim Qasim said: "We have been training in Malaysia for a couple of weeks and we also played one warm-up game with Syria. It was a useful stint for the team.
"Thailand have improved a lot and we hope that our team will create a good result in this game. In our previous game, we played with Japan and put on a pleasing show."
UAE KEEP HOPES ALIVE
The UAE maintained their hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a shock 2-1 victory at home against regional giants Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night.
It was only the fourth win in nine matches for the Emiratis, who took their tally to 13 points from nine matches to be placed fourth in Group B in the final round of Asian qualifying.
Japan top the standings with 17 points with Saudi Arabia and Australia on 16 each, meaning all the top four teams in the group are in with a chance of clinching the two automatic spots for next year's finals.
The UAE's victory on Tuesday in Al-Ain was all the more remarkable because they bounced back within a minute after being a goal down to stun the powerful Saudis.
The hosts had conceded a penalty when Mohamed Fawzi fouled Nawal al-Abid in the box and Al-Abid himself slotted the ball home in the 20th minute.
But barely had the Saudi celebrations died down when the home side struck for the equaliser.
A Tariq Ahmed cross found Ali Mabkhout and the UAE star made no mistake with a right-footed shot.
Ahmed Khalil completed a remarkable UAE revival with a stunning shot at the hour-mark. Bangkok Post/AFP