"Tae Mongkolkit" boasts that Thailand's national football team will win the 2030 World Cup and comes up with the idea of space soccer competition.
On 21 Jan 2026 GMT+7, it immediately went viral when "Tae Mongkolkit Suksintharanon" campaigned at King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB) and faced a question from a student: "Does Thai football have a chance to go to space soccer?"
Mr. Mongkolkit confidently answered this question, stating that in 2030, Thailand's national team will be ranked number 1 in the world because he is ready to allocate a budget of 18 billion baht. Regarding the "space soccer" topic, he proposed a futuristic idea that if Thailand becomes the 9th country to have a space force, it should invite the other 8 countries with space forces to hold a space soccer competition.
"The 2030 World Cup, we'll be number one in the world because I will invest 18 billion baht. Currently, there are 8 countries with space forces; if we become the 9th, we can bring these 9 nations to play soccer together. It might be 3-a-side or 5-a-side on a small field, which they call small-sided soccer, played on the ISS space station, which is not very high up, about 200-300 kilometers, in zero gravity," Tae Mongkolkit said.
Although space soccer sounds like a joke, "football" has already been played aboard the International Space Station (ISS) at least twice to promote the World Cup.
2014 World Cup: Astronauts from NASA (USA) and ESA (Europe) showcased ball juggling skills with a small ball in zero gravity. At that time, German astronaut Alexander Gerst celebrated the World Cup victory from space along with his fellow countrymen.
2018 World Cup: Host Russia made a big gesture by sending 18 "Telstar 18" balls (used in the first match of the tournament) up to Russian astronauts to try out first.