The final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between
Indonesia and
Thailand. The first leg was hosted by Indonesia at the
Pakansari Stadium in
Bogor on 14 December 2016, while the second leg was hosted by Thailand at the
Rajamangala Stadium in
Bangkok on 17 December 2016.[1][2]
Background
Based on previous records, Indonesia had reached the AFF Championship final four times (
2000,
2002,
2004 and
2010), finishing runners-up in all attempts.[3] Thailand had reached the AFF Championship final seven times (
1996,
2000,
2002,
2007,
2008,
2012 and
2014) and had won the tournament four times (
1996,
2000,
2002 and
2014).[4] The two sides last met on 7 December 2010 in the group stage of the
2010 AFF Championship. Indonesia, who began the 2016 AFF Championship as an underdog, was ranked 179 in the
FIFA World Rankings and tenth among AFF teams while Thailand, who entered the tournament as a clear favorite, was ranked 146 overall and fourth among AFF teams. Thailand entered the 2016 AFF Championship as four-time ASEAN champions. Thailand was first crowned champions of ASEAN in the
1996 that was held in
Singapore with a final score of 1–0 against
Malaysia. In the
2000, Thailand had taken home the title through a 4–1 victory against Indonesia. In the
2002, Thailand won against Indonesia through a
penalty shoot-out. In the
2007 and
2008, Thailand reached the final to meet
Singapore and
Vietnam but however lost in the final games. In the
2012, Thailand again failed after losing by 2–3 on
aggregate against Singapore. But in the
2014, Thailand managed to return by winning 4–3 on aggregate against Malaysia. The 2016 final was Indonesia's fifth consecutive time contesting an AFF Championship final, after losing four times against Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Up until the beginning of the tournament, Indonesia had just set everything in control after a series of internal upheavals within the PSSI, which cost the country's qualification attempts for the
2018 FIFA World Cup and
2019 AFC Asian Cup.[5][6] Having just ended the crisis, Indonesia's perpetration was in total disarray and thus they had to take back their old boss,
Alfred Riedl, to manage the team and fix the messes.[7] In comparison, Thailand's perpetration was largely smooth and problem-free. Therefore, not many people even imagined Indonesia could progress to the semi-finals, leave alone winning the tournament.
Both Indonesia and Thailand were drawn into
Group A of the 2016 AFF Championship, along with powerhouse sides
Philippines and Singapore. After winning all three group matches, Thailand finished first in the group. Indonesia finished second in the group to progress to the
knockout phase of the tournament. Thailand's first match victory was against Indonesia with a score of 4–2. From there, they continue the path by beating both Singapore and the Philippines by 1–0. Thailand progressed to the semi-finals to face
Group B runner-up and subsequent host of
Myanmar. In the first-leg in
Yangon, Thailand won 2–0 before winning the second-leg in
Bangkok by 4–0 with a total aggregate of 6–0. Indonesia's lose their first match against Thailand before drawing 2–2 against the host Philippines. In the third match against
Singapore, they won 2–1 before progressing to the semi-finals to face
Group B winner of
Vietnam. In the first-leg in Bogor, Indonesia won 2–1 before drawing 2–2 in the
extra time in the second-leg in
Hanoi with a total aggregate of 4–3.
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).