U23 Thailand caused a surprise when they beat Iraq in the opening match of the U23 Asian Cup.

On the evening of April 16, U23 Thailand and U23 Iraq entered the first match in Group C of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. Both teams played openly from the first minutes of the match. Highly rated, U23 Iraq dominated the game, pushing U23 Thailand back to their home field. However, the West Asian players did not create many opportunities against Thailand's tightly arranged defense.

After the first few minutes, U23 Thailand gradually got into the rhythm of the match, creating a number of counter-attacks. This made U23 Iraq play cautiously and not push their formation too high. In the 26th minute, the deadlock of the match was broken by U23 Thailand. Receiving a pass from his teammate, Waris Choolthong broke through and easily tapped the ball into the U23 Iraq net.

After conceding the goal, U23 Iraq pushed up and pressured their opponents but could not find an equalizer. As for U23 Thailand, the Southeast Asian representative gave up the game to their opponents and only waited for set pieces. One of them became the second goal of the "War Elephants" when Teerasak Poeiphimai chose a smart position to head the ball neatly, raising the score to 2-0 for U23 Thailand in the 65th minute.

Difficulties piled up for U23 Iraq when they had to play with 10 men after only 6 minutes to concede the second goal when Nihad Muhammad received a second yellow card and was sent off. In the following minutes, despite great efforts, U23 Iraq still could not find a way into the Thai goal.

In the end, U23 Thailand had a smooth start with a 2-0 victory over U23 Iraq.

With this victory, U23 Thailand has a wide open chance to continue. They will face U23 Saudi Arabia (April 19) and U23 Tajikistan (April 22)./.