Chanathip Songkrasin declares Thailand will defeat China team

Thailand and China are in Group C of the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers. This group also includes South Korea and Singapore.

Thailand will have their opening match against China on November 16 in Bangkok (Thailand). Before this match, Thai team captain Chanathip Songkrasin said: "I know we need to beat China and Singapore to please Thai fans."

Chanathip Songkrasin tuyên bố Thái Lan sẽ đánh bại đội tuyển Trung Quốc - 1 — Chanathip Songkrasin declared that the Thai team will defeat the Chinese team (Photo: Daily News).

"We really want to contribute to the country. The entire Thai team always plays with the highest determination. Playing well is also to demonstrate our own abilities," Chanathip Songkrasin added.

Chanathip Songkrasin was not part of the Thai team when the Golden Temple country toured Europe in October. As a result, Thailand lost 0-8 to Georgia. This defeat caused the Thai team to be heavily criticized by the Thai media.

However, thanks to this defeat, Thailand realized its weakness. Coach Mano Polking of the Golden Temple team decided to recall most of the best players of Thai football, preparing for the match against the Chinese team in the World Cup qualifiers.

Chanathip Songkrasin half-jokingly told Thai football fans: "I want to tell the fans, if anyone does not come to the stadium to watch the Thai team take on the Chinese team in the coming days, they will regret it."

According to the regulations of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, the top two teams in each group of the second qualifying round (a total of 9 groups) will qualify for the third qualifying round. From the third qualifying round, teams in Asia will have hope of competing for tickets to the World Cup finals.

In Group C, South Korea is very strong and is considered to be in the top position. On the other hand, Singapore is quite weak and will most likely be at the bottom of the table. Therefore, the second place in the group is mainly a competition between Thailand and China.