The Thailand national futsal team is regarded as one of the finest teams in the Asian Football Confederation and the most dominant team in Southeast Asia due to its high-profile records in the continental competitions. Thailand has played more than 250 official games against other national teams since their first international match in 1992. The national team reached its highest ranking in the Futsal World Rankings at ninth place on 9 July 2009.
Thailand started to form their national team in 1992 to attend the 1992 FIFA Futsal World Championship qualification tournament in Hong Kong. Thailand played their first international match ever against China which the Thais lost by 5–12 on 2 May 1992.[3] Thailand lost 4–5 to Japan and ended their first qualification the next day.
After the 1992 World Championship qualification, Thailand's national Futsal team was disbanded for 7 years without any activity. The national team was then reformed again to compete in the 1999 AFC Futsal Championship, the first edition of the AFC Futsal Championship. Thailand finished their first ever Asian tournament in the group stage.
In 2000, Thailand hosted the 2000 AFC Futsal Championship in Bangkok. The tournament has become the big leap of Thailand in Asian Futsal. In this tournament, Thailand was drawn in group B with Singapore and 2 strong teams of South Korea and Kazakhstan. After losing to Kazakhstan in the opening match, the Thais got the surprising wins over South Korea and Singapore. Thailand reached the semi-final of the tournament and got beaten by eventual champions Iran. However, Thailand overcame Japan, one of the strongest teams in Asia, with an 8–6 result in the third-place playoff match. This wonder winning granted them their first ever achievement in the international futsal stage plus the right to play in the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Championship in Guatemala.[4] After this tournament, Thailand has begun to gain the massive growth, become one of the best Asian teams and qualified for 6 consecutive World Cups since 2000.
In 2004 at Taiwan, Thailand achieved their first win in the World Cup. After losing to Uruguay and Brazil respectively in the first two games of the group stage, Thailand manage to win 3–2 over Australia. Despite the first 3 points, Thailand was once again eliminated from the group stage.
Thailand 2012
"The host and knock-out stage."
Thailand successfully beat the bids from China, Iran, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Sri Lanka and Guatemala to become the host of the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup.[5] Under the coaching of DutchVictor Hermans, Thailand made the impressive start by beating Costa Rica 3–1 in their first match in front of 4,379 crowds at Indoor Stadium Huamark. Thailand lost to Ukraine and Paraguay with the impressive performance in the group stage. Despite that, Thailand still qualified for the round of 16 for the first time in their history after finishing as one of the best third-place team across all of the group. Thailand played two-time world champion Spain and got knocked out from the competition after losing to them by 1–7. Thai 23-year-old Pivot, Suphawut Thueanklang won Goal of the Tournament award for his mark against Costa Rica.[6]
Thailand was placed in Group B along with Russia, Egypt and Cuba. At the first game, Thailand played against the third placed team in the World Rankings and UEFA Futsal Euro 2016 runner-up, Russia, and lost by 4–6 with an impressive performance. Thailand later won other two games in the group stage against Cuba and Egypt and then qualified for round of 16 as the runner-up of Group B. This is the first time in the history that Thailand could collect more than 3 points in the group stage. In the round of 16, Thailand lost to Azerbaijan with an 8–13 result in the extra-time after a 7–7 draw in 40 minutes.
In 2016 edition, Thailand scored 22 goals from 4 games, almost matching the total record of the previous 4 editions of 23 goals from 14 games. Suphawut Thueanklang is the team highest scorer with six goals, followed by Jirawat Sornwichian (five goals).
Team image
Nicknames
Thailand national futsal team was dubbed by the media and supporters as "Toh-Lek" (Thai: โต๊ะเล็ก lit. small table).
Toh-Lek or The Small Table is a slang term to call futsal in Thailand, as the sport is played on a small, indoor field, instead of its official word (Thai: ฟุตซอล). As a coincidence, The Small Table became the nickname of Thailand's futsal team to this day.
Last updated was against Indonesia on 27 October 2019
Competitive record
*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicates 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.
The record of Thailand against other countries since the first official international match against China on 2 May 1992. Only official games were regarded.
Miguel Rodrigo
[1]
Thailand 5–12 China 
Brazil 11–0 Thailand 
Runners-up (2008, 2012)[2]
Champions (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022)
