War Elephants ready for Asian Cup draw in Riyadh
Thais to learn their Asian Cup fate tonight in Riyadh
PUBLISHED : 9 May 2026 at 01:50
Thailand will find out who their group stage opponents are at the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 as the official draw for the tournament takes place in Riyadh on Saturday night.
Thailand have been placed in Pot Three along with Bahrain, China, Palestine, Tajikistan and Vietnam.
Hosts Saudi Arabia are in Pot 1 with Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia and Uzbekistan.
The pots are determined by the Fifa rankings, which were announced on April 1.
Thailand secured their qualification following their thrilling 2‑1 victory over Turkmenistan in the decisive Group D clash on March 31 at Rajamangala National Stadium.
The War Elephants, who are currently 93rd in the Fifa World Rankings, are set to make their ninth appearance in the continental championship. Their best performances in the Asian Cup finals were the semi-finals in 1972 and the last 16 in 2023.
The 19th edition of the Asian Cup is scheduled to take place from Jan 7 to Feb 5 next year, and 23 out of 24 participating nations have been confirmed.
The final berth is to be decided with a Group B tie between Lebanon and Yemen on June 4.
The 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four. The winners and the runners-up of each group and the four best third-place teams will qualify for the knockout stage.
Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar are the host cities.
Coke Cup schedule out
The Coke Cup U17 Thailand Football Championship 2026 will kick off on May 19, with 192 teams from six regions competing for 1.5 million baht in total prize money.
The competition will begin in the Eastern zone (Chon Buri) between May 19-24, followed by Northeastern zone (Buri Ram) between June 2-7, Central and Western zones (Kanchanaburi) between June 16-21, Southern zone (Sonkhla) between June 30 to July 5, Northern zone (Chiang Mai) between July 14-19 and Bangkok and Metropolitan (Bangkok) between July 29 to Aug 3.
The top two teams from each region will qualify for the final round in Bangkok on Aug 22-23.
Source – Bangkok News
