The Thailand national under-23 football team (, ), also known as the Thailand Olympic football team, is the national team for the under-23 and 22 level, representing Thailand in international football competitions in the Olympic Games, Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games, as well as any other under-23 international football tournaments including the AFC U-23 Championship. It is controlled by the Football Association of Thailand.
The team has won the Southeast Asian Games gold medal for a record seven times, making it the most successful among ASEAN football teams. Despite its major domination in Southeast Asia, the team never won any gold medal in Asian level.
The 2014 Asian Games was held in Incheon, South Korea. The Thailand U23 Team under coach Kiatisuk Senamuang built a young-blood team that would later become the main Thailand senior team with players such as Chanathip Songkrasin, Sarach Yooyen, Kawin Thamsatchanan, Charyl Chappuis, etc. In this competition the team made top performance by finishing in fourth place, the highest in the Asian Games after 1998.
The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament was held in Qatar from 12âÂÂ30 January 2016. Thailand qualified for the tournament by runner-up in the qualification stage in homeland in March 2015. The Young Elephants recorded comprehensive victories; 2âÂÂ1 against Cambodia; 5âÂÂ1 against Philippines and 0âÂÂ0 against North Korea.
The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship doubled as the qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics Football tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Thailand were eliminated from the championship in the group stage. A 1âÂÂ1 draw to Saudi Arabia followed by a 0âÂÂ4 loss to Japan meant that Thailand needed to defeat North Korea in the final group match. A nil-all draw resulted in the elimination for Thailand from the tournament and hence failure to qualify for the Olympics. Although eliminated, Thailand earned praise and reputation for its strong performance in the tournament.
In the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, Thailand only finished second in their qualification, but with the team being undefeated, Thailand beat Malaysia 3âÂÂ0 and was held draws by Mongolia and Indonesia, Thailand became the best runners-up to qualify. The Young Elephants prepared by hosting the friendly 2017 M-150 Cup, where they finished fourth but managed to beat Japan 2âÂÂ1. This enthusiastic performance of Thailand put up great hope for the team, having earlier conquered the 2017 SEA Games.
However, having entered the tournament, it would become Thailand's complete nightmare. They opened their game with a 0âÂÂ1 loss to North Korea before got slapped with the same result to Japan, eventually eliminated the Young Elephants from the competition. The Thais bid goodbye from the competition in a humiliating fashion, with a devastating 1âÂÂ5 loss to Palestine. To add the dismay, their defeated rivals Malaysia and Vietnam both moved on to progress from the group stage, with the latter managed to reach the final and ended in second place.
Thailand was awarded as host of the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship, therefore they were automatically qualified. Thailand still participated in the qualification as an opportunity to train and improve the team. Thailand, once again, finished second, after beating Indonesia and Brunei, but lost to Vietnam. Before the tournament, Thailand was eliminated at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games after the group stage.
In the group stage, Thailand would face Iraq, Australia and maiden debutant Bahrain, and was tipped favorably to progress, mainly due to Australia's underperformance in the tournament and inexperienced Bahrain. Thailand prepared by playing against Saudi Arabia in the friendly encounter, but lost 0âÂÂ1. In their first match against inexperienced Bahrain, the Thais proved to be too dominant for the visitor, as the Thais demolished Bahrain 5âÂÂ0. This win allowed more Thai supporters coming to cheer for the Thai side in their second encounter against underperformed Australia, instead, Thailand suffered a heartbreaking 1âÂÂ2 loss to Australia despite having taken the lead and putting Thailand's quest to the final stage in their final game against Iraq. In final matches in group state Thailand draw Iraq 1âÂÂ1 earn a spot in the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time in AFC U-23 Championship as the second-placed team in the group behind Australia. In quarterfinals Thailand have to face with the winner of Group B, Saudi Arabia and lost with penalty 1-0 end the way to 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup final tournament was held in Uzbekistan from 1 to 19 June 2022. Thailand qualified for the tournament by being runner-up in the qualification stage in Mongolia in October 2021, which drew; 1âÂÂ1 against Mongolia; 3-0 against Laos and 0âÂÂ0 against Malaysia.
In the group stage, Thailand (Pot 2) was drawn into Group C with South Korea (Pot 1), Vietnam (Pot 3), and Malaysia (Pot 4). All matches were played at Tashkent. In the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup at Tashkent, Thailand drew 2âÂÂ2 against Vietnam, won 3âÂÂ0 against Malaysia, and lost to South Korea 0âÂÂ1; they were eliminated from the group stage with four points.
The following 23 players were called up for the 2026 CFA Team China Cup on 25âÂÂ31 March 2026.
The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.
<sup>INJ</sup> Withdrew from the squad due to injury<br> <sup>PRE</sup> Included in the Preliminary squad or on standby<br> <sup>RET</sup> Retired from the national team<br> <sup>SUS</sup> Serving suspension from the national team<br> <sup>WD</sup> Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue<br>
<sup>1</sup>: The under-22 team played at the 2013 edition.<br> *: Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
<sup>1</sup>: The senior national team played at the 1951 to 1998 editions.<br> *: Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
<sup>1</sup>: The senior national team played at the 1959 to 1999 editions.<br> <sup>2</sup>: The under-22 national team.<br> *: Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
*: Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.<br> *: The under-22 national team played at the 2019 edition onwards.
*: Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
An all-time record table of Thailand national under-23 football team in major competitions only including; Summer Olympics, AFC U-23 Championship, M-150 Cup, Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games.
This is a list of honours for the Thailand national under-23 football team.