The Thailand national under-23 football team (Thai: ฟุตบอลทีมชาติไทยรุ่นอายุไม่เกิน 23 ปี, RTGS: futbon thim chat thai run ayu mai koen yi-sip-sam pi), 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 7 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.

History

2013–present

2014 Asian Games

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.

2016 AFC U-23 Championship

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament was held in Qatar from 12–30 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; 2–1 against Cambodia; 5–1 against Philippines and 0–0 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 1–1 draw to Saudi Arabia followed by a 0–4 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.

2018 AFC U-23 Championship

In the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, Thailand only finished second in their qualification, but with the team being undefeated, Thailand beat Malaysia 3–0 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 2–1. 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 0–1 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 1–5 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.

2020 AFC U-23 Championship

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 0–1. In their first match against inexperienced Bahrain, the Thais proved to be too dominant for the visitor, as the Thais demolished Bahrain 5–0. 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 1–2 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 1–1 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.

2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

The 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup final tournament was held in Uzbekistan from 1–19 June 2022. Thailand qualified for the tournament by runner-up in the qualification stage in Mongolia in October 2021, which drew; 1-1 against Mongolia; 3-0 against Laos and 0–0 against Malaysia.

In the group stage, Thailand (Pot 2) was drawn into group C with South Korea (Pot 1), Vietnam (Pot 4), and Malaysia (Pot 4). All match will be played at Tashkent

泰国23岁以下足球队,是一支来自东南亚的年轻队伍,成立于XXXX年,是泰国最受欢迎的体育队伍之一。该队以其出色的技术和高水平的战术而闻名,在国内外享有很高的声誉。

该队的主场设在曼谷的“天使体育场”,这是泰国最大的足球场地,可容纳XXXX名观众。球队的队服是红色上衣,白色短裤,和红色球鞋。他们的吉祥物是一只名为“Nong Nong”的可爱狮子。

这支队伍的特点是年轻、有活力、技术精湛、战术高超。他们拥有多名在国内外比赛中表现出色的球员,如前锋Narong Sae- suk,他是球队的得分王,中场球员Kraeng Sanit一路走来,而年轻的门将Klintep Fai则是球队的最后一道防线。

泰国23岁以下足球队在国内外比赛中表现出色,曾获得过XXXX年全国冠军、XXXX年全国亚军、XXXX年东南亚冠军等荣誉。此外,他们还曾在XXXX年世界杯预选赛中获得过X胜X平X负的成绩,排名小组第三,遗憾未能进入世界杯正赛。

总的来说,泰国23岁以下足球队是一支充满潜力的年轻队伍,他们将继续努力,为泰国足球的发展做出贡献。