Thailand kick off their Fifa Futsal World Cup 2024 campaign with a tournament opener against Croatia in Uzbekistan on Saturday.
The Group B game, to be played at Bukhara Universal Sports Complex, will start at 5pm and will be broadcast live on T Sports 7. Five-time champions Brazil and Cuba also face off in the other group game on Saturday.
"It is an honour for Thailand that the Fifa has chosen our team and Croatia to play as an official opener for the Fifa Futsal World Cup tournament," said team manager Suthin Buatoom.
"Every player is focusing on the first match against Croatia. They are all in good spirits.
"Coach Miguel Rodrigo has got the team united as one and the players are determined to qualify for the next round and hope to bring happiness to Thai fans," he added.
Uzbekistan 2024 is Thailand's seventh consecutive appearance at the global showpiece but despite reaching the knockout phase at the last three editions, the team have never gone beyond the last 16.
The team will have to hit the ground running and their target will be to register wins in their first two games before facing mighty Brazil. "Our group is definitely tough," veteran defender Jirawat Sornwichian told Fifa.
"Brazil are obviously a strong side, and Croatia and Cuba are not teams to be underestimated.
"It will be difficult, but we are committed to giving it our all. We will focus on taking it one game at a time and see how far we can go," he added.
The Fifa Futsal World Cup takes place from Sept 14-Oct 6.
King's Cup matches
Thailand will face the Philippines in the 50th King's Cup football tournament in Songkhla next month after a draw yesterday.
Syria and Tajikistan, the other two teams in the Oct 7-15 tournament, will face off in the other game.
Both matches will be played on Oct 11 at Tinsulanonda Stadium.
The winners of the two games will meet in the final on Oct 14 while the losing teams will face off in a third-place play-off earlier in the day.
Thailand lost to Iraq 5-4 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in last year's final.