Thailand’s football hierarchy is facing another season with Buriram United firmly in the spotlight — but the chasing pack is determined to make the champions work harder for their crown.
BURIRAM, Thailand — The new Thai League 1 campaign is shaping up around a familiar question: Can anyone finally knock Buriram United off the top?
The northeastern giants enter the 2026/27 season as the defending Thai League 1 champions, having also successfully defended their ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup crown last season. The challenge now is not simply winning again — it is maintaining their dominance while a growing group of rivals tries to close the gap.
Buriram starts as the team to beat
Buriram’s recent record gives them every reason to believe another title is within reach.
The club retained the Thai League 1 championship last season and then added another regional trophy by defeating Malaysia’s Selangor FC 3-1 on aggregate in the 2025/26 Shopee Cup final.
That regional success means Buriram have now won the first two editions of the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup, establishing themselves as the benchmark for Southeast Asian club football.
But repeating success is becoming increasingly difficult.
The challengers are coming
The domestic competition is not standing still.
Thailand’s leading clubs are looking to close the competitive and financial gap, while the 2026/27 season also comes with significant changes to the wider football landscape.
Buriram’s schedule illustrates the scale of the challenge. The club faces a demanding campaign across Thai League 1, the AFC Champions League Elite and the Shopee Cup, creating the kind of fixture congestion that can test even the deepest squad.
The AFC Champions League Elite campaign alone includes meetings with heavyweight Asian opposition such as Johor Darul Ta’zim, Beijing Guoan, Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers.
A bigger ASEAN battle awaits
Buriram’s defence of the Shopee Cup will also be tougher.
The 2026/27 tournament has expanded to 16 clubs, up from 14, and introduces a quarter-final stage. The competition will feature 56 matches, compared with 40 previously.
Buriram have been placed in Group A alongside fellow Thai side Ratchaburi FC, Malaysia’s Kuching City, Singapore’s Tampines Rovers, Borneo FC Samarinda, the Vietnam Cup winner and the winner of the Kasuka FC–Manila Digger playoff.
That means the defending champions will again encounter familiar regional opponents while facing a more demanding tournament format.
Ratchaburi could provide an intriguing domestic test
Ratchaburi’s inclusion in both the Thai League and the Shopee Cup adds another layer to the story.
The two Thai clubs were drawn together in Group A of the regional competition, meaning their rivalry will extend beyond domestic football.
Their Shopee Cup meeting is scheduled for March 3, 2027, when Buriram host Ratchaburi.
For Ratchaburi, competing against the defending regional champions offers an opportunity to measure themselves against the current standard-bearer of Thai football.
And the Southeast Asian giants are waiting
Buriram also cannot afford to look only inward.
Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) remains one of the most formidable clubs in the region. Buriram and JDT have already developed a growing rivalry, having met repeatedly in major continental and ASEAN competitions.
The two sides met in the 2025/26 Shopee Cup semi-finals, where Buriram advanced 4-3 on aggregate after a dramatic tie.
JDT will compete in Group B of the new Shopee Cup season, so another meeting with Buriram remains possible later in the tournament.
Buriram’s next test comes quickly
The Thai champions begin September with a busy run.
Their next scheduled Thai League match is against Sukhothai FC on September 6, followed by a home meeting with Chiangrai United on September 11.
Then comes one of the biggest early tests of the continental campaign: JDT vs Buriram United on September 15 in the AFC Champions League Elite.
That sequence could offer an early indication of whether Buriram are ready for another season of competing on multiple fronts.
The real question
Buriram have already demonstrated that they know how to win.
Now comes the harder part:
Can they keep winning while the rest of Thai and Southeast Asian football catches up?
The champions have the trophies, the experience and the expectation.
Their rivals have something equally powerful — the motivation to end the streak.
And if the challengers have genuinely narrowed the gap, the 2026/27 season could become much more than another Buriram title defence.
It could become the season when Thailand’s chasing pack finally makes the champions sweat.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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