The Indian men’s football team will take on Thailand in an international friendly at the Thammasat stadium in Khlong Nueng on Wednesday.

The match will serve as a preparation for the Blue Tigers, who travel to Hong Kong for their second group match in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10.

Manolo Marquez’s men drew 0-0 against Bangladesh at home in the first match of the qualifiers and thus are under pressure to make up the lost points against Hong Kong.

The Indian squad were gearing up for these twin clashes in a camp in Kolkata to get in tune with Marquez’s methods.

Thailand, like India, are also trying to make it to the AFC Asian Cup finals for a third edition running and started their campaign with a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka and face Turkmenistan in their next match on June 10.

Know Your Opponents: Thailand

Thailand have been in decent form of late winning three of their last five games. They beat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in their last two matches in March with the latter being an AFC Asian Cup qualifier. Both their recent defeats came at the hands of Vietnam in the ASEAN Championship final.

The War Elephants have been very strong at home of late having won seven of their last ten home matches with just one defeat.

Head-to-Head record

India and Thailand have faced each other on 26 occasions with Thailand emerging victorious on 12 occasions while India have come out on top seven times. The remaining seven matches have ended in draws.

The Blue Tigers have won the last two meetings against Thailand which includes the famous 4-1 win over their Southeast Asian rivals in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The other win came in the same year as India edged past Thailand 1-0 in the King’s Cup in Thailand.

Thailand have won three out of the other four matches between the two teams this century with the other one finishing all square.

What the coaches said

In the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, India head coach Manolo Márquez said, "We are preparing for the game against Hong Kong, and Thailand are preparing for Turkmenistan. It's a good friendly game for both teams because we are in a similar situation (playing the Asian Cup Qualifiers)."

Lallianzuala Chhangte, accompanying Márquez in the press conference, said, "We've been working really hard for these two matches. We take this friendly game seriously and want to win it as well. Everyone is focused and motivated. The coaching staff and everyone in the team are behind us, helping us in every way they can.

"Thailand, we know, are a good team offensively and defensively. We came here with a clear plan. Our focus is on ourselves, and hopefully, we can execute what we've been working on. If we win this game, it will boost our confidence for the Hong Kong match," the winger added.

Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii spoke along Márquez's lines. The Japanese said, "We lost the last two games against India, but there have been a lot of changes. I wasn't the coach at that time, and a lot of players were different. So, it doesn't matter. We want to win against India and use this game as preparation for Turkmenistan."

Match Details

Fixture: Thailand vs India

Date: June 4, 2025

Time: 6:00 PM IST

Venue: Thammasat Stadium, Rangsit

Live Streaming: FanCode

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Lallianzuala Chhangte