Team manager Nualphan Lamsam said Polking would be replaced by Masatada Ishii, the 56-year-old Japanese coach who led Buriram United to Thai Premier League titles in 2022 and 2023.”We need to select a coach that is most familiar with the Thai national football team, so we picked coach Ishii who is very experienced,” Nualphan said in a statement on her Facebook page.

Polking leaves after guiding Thailand to back-to-back AFF Cup titles while the War Elephants are second in Group C of the Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™.