Talent identification in Thailand

With a population of 66 million, Thailand has the potential to become a major footballing force. However, limited resources and logistical problems have traditionally made it difficult for its national association to locate the country’s best players. FIFA’s TDS programme has helped FA Thailand tackle these issues by establishing a more systematic approach to talent development, improving its relationships with key stakeholders, and boosting awareness of youth football.

• A national talent identification (TID) system has to cover the entire country. Investing in a strong regional scouting network allows you to cover more territory and find more talent.

• Using the latest technology effectively will give your scouts and selectors the information they need to make better decisions and pick better squads.

• Take every opportunity you can to strengthen ties with the schools, clubs and academies at the bottom of your domestic football pyramid. The stronger the base, the more players will progress to the very top.

Part 1: TID in Thailand
Following an extensive analysis in the early part of this decade, talent development and identification were highlighted as major weaknesses of Thailand’s football ecosystem. Scouting resources were heavily concentrated in and around Bangkok, and the FA was struggling to monitor players in other parts of the country. To tackle these problems, FA Thailand invested funding from the FIFA TDS to deliver a major upgrade to its talent development infrastructure, complete with a regional scouting network and specialist software for analysing performance.

Part 2: Analysing data to unearth talent
This new technology has revolutionised the way the Thai football association monitors its players. It can now combine the data from its new systems with scouting reports and video of individual players to create a “playlist”. The playlist allows its coaches to build up a detailed picture of each player’s strengths and weaknesses, and to grade them from “immediate starter” to “not showing enough potential.” This grading informs decisions about selection for training camps, including a series of events held between February and April 2025.

Part 3: Regional and national TID events
The 2025 national talent identification process, which also benefited from TDS funding, was open to girls in all age groups and to boys of U-15 and U-16 age groups. The process for boys consisted of two one-day visits to ten regions, meaning a total of 20 TID days. Each day, approximately 30 U-15 and 30 U-16 players from the given region were brought in and evaluated in an 11 v. 11 setting. The girls were concentrated in seven sports schools. As a result, their identification process consisted of a two-day visit to each of these seven schools (14 TID days in total). At the end of the process, the 44 boys and 44 girls with the highest potential were then brought into a 3-day national camp.

01:12
What have been the most positive outcomes from the TID events?

03:07
To what extent do you think these talent development projects can serve as an example of good practice to the rest of the Thai football community?

05:55
What effect do you think these projects have had on all the technical staff at FA Thailand?