It was heartbreak for Thailand despite defeating Singapore 3-1 in their concluding match of the preliminary qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday night at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok.
The War Elephants came into the Group C match knowing they needed to defeat Singapore by three goals in order to overcome their goal-difference disadvantage against China, which suffered a 1-0 loss to South Korea earlier in the evening.
As it happened, the victory drew Thailand level in second place on eight points with China, and both sides had identical records, each with 9 goals scored and 9 allowed. However, the War Elephants finished third based on the head-to-head ratio, because of their 2-1 loss to China in the opening match of the qualification round last November.
China will now move on to the next stage of the Asian Football Confederation qualifiers.
The hosts dominated play in the first half and created some promising chances but Singapore keeper Hassan Sunny was up to the task.
Thailand’s finishing also let them down. Chanathip Songkrasin and Supachai wasted efforts from inside the box around the 15-minute mark, while Suphanan Bureerat saw his effort from distance blocked.
The hosts wasted another golden opportunity to take the lead in the 26th minute when Supachok Sarachat muscled his way through before unleashing a powerful effort, forcing Sunny to deflect the ball into the path of Supachai who could not cash in.
Singapore’s defence was finally breached in the 37th minute when Theerathon sent a well-timed delivery for Chanathip, whose cutback into the crowded box off a set-piece was easily slotted home by Suphanat.
Thailand should have doubled their lead in the 48th minute when Suphanan Bureerat did well to force his way through into the box only for Supachai to mis-kick an effort that Sunny easily collected.
Sarach Yooyen was denied a goal two minutes later when his volleyed attempt off Teerasil Dangda’s pass slipped the clutches of Sunny before deflecting off the left post.
Thailand paid the price for their misses as Singapore stunned the home side with a spectacular effort from Ikhsan Fandi in the 57th minute, the striker picking up Glenn Kweh’s pass before unleashing a powerful effort from just outside the box.
Thailand came back fighting and regained the lead in the 79th minute with Theerathon setting up Poramet Arjvirai to strike the ball into the bottom right corner.
Jaroensak Wonggorn then made it 3-1 in the 86th minute when he rose highest to nod home from close range. That set the stage for a frenetic finish during the seven-plus minutes of added time. But Thailand created only a couple of genuine chances, most notably when Jaroensak fired a shot just to the left of the Singapore goal.
In Seoul, Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain scored the only goal just after the hour when he fired home from close range, with skipper Son Heung-min heavily involved in the build-up.
South Korea were already into the third and final stage of qualifying as group winners.
Also moving on, out of Group F, are Indonesia, which celebrated a 2-0 home victory over the Philippines.