Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii decided to rest some key players in the game at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, and the 101-ranked War Elephants managed a draw with Saudi Arabia, who are spotted 52 in the FIFA rankings.
Thailand finished second in Group F and will face Uzbekistan on Tuesday while Saudi Arabia, who topped the group, will meet South Korea, reports the Bangkok Post.
Oman, another favourite team in Group F, failed to advance after a 1-1 draw with Kyrgyzstan. Indonesia are another team from Asean who enter the last 16 after Oman could not secure the crucial win yesterday.
Ishii said on Wednesday that the Thais would not go out for attacks when they took on the Saudis as he hoped to share a point with the former champions.
“We will be playing more defensively than the previous two games because we need to stop them from scoring. But at the same time, we will try to create openings and score as well," the Japanese coach said.
Thailand’s goalkeeper, Saranon “Oh” Anuin, secured his first call-up to the national team and was named as the man of the match in a remarkable performance against Saudi Arabia which saw four disallowed goals.