Thailand made the Round of 16 of the AFC Asian Cup when they held hosts United Arab Emirates to a 1-1 draw in their final game of Group A that was played last night at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

It was Thailand’s first appearance in the Round of 16 since 1972.

In front of more than 18,000 fans, the UAE found the back of the net after just seven minutes when Ali Mabkhout headed in Ismail Al Hammadi’s attempt that came off the crossbar.

But Thailand were relentless and they duly delivered the equaliser just found minutes left of the first half with Chanathip Songkrasin delivering the cross for Thitiphan Puangjan to slip it past Khalid Eisa.

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