Thailand coach Akira Nishino vowed to fight on although the War Elephants only have slim hopes of progressing past Asia's second qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup after a 2-2 draw with Indonesia on Thursday night.
The result was a blow to Thailand as three points would have taken them top of Group G, with Nishino's men set to play the hosts United Arab Emirates, who defeated Malaysia 4-0 in Thursday's other game, on Monday.
Thailand are third in the group with nine points from six matches, behind leaders Vietnam (11 points) and the UAE (nine) who both have a game in hand.
The remaining Group G campaign, which started on Thursday, is being played in Dubai due to travel restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The winners of eight groups and four best runners-up advance to Asia's third and final qualifying stage for Qatar 2022.
At Al Maktoum Stadium, Thailand took the lead twice only for Indonesia to fight back to gain their first point of the campaign.
Narubadin Weerawatnodom opened the scoring for Thailand after just five minutes and Kadek Agung made it 1-1 in the 39th minute.
Adisak Kraisorn regained the lead for the War Elephants with a header five minutes after the restart, and Evan Dimas levelled the score once more at the hour mark.
"We have done our best since training and it's a pity that we could not win this game," Nishino said.
"The draw makes it difficult for us to reach the next round. This does not mean we don't have to play other matches. We want our players to regroup and restart again."
The Japanese said had the game taken place in Thailand, his men should have got a better result.
"This is a new challenge for Indonesia, who have a new coach and several new players," Nishino said. "They fought us very hard."
Thailand, who had won 3-0 at Indonesia in the first leg, are without three key players -- Teerasil Dangda, Chanathip Songkrasin and Theerathon Bunmathan.
Thailand must now beat the UAE and Malaysia in their remaining two games to stand any chance of advancing to the next qualifying stage.