Thailand quickly proved their worth with an offside goal in the 15th minute, before dealing a fatal blow to Kyrgyzstan in the 26th minute when Bordin Phala delivered a long-range shot, then Supachai Chaided quickly approached the ball following a deflection from Erzhan Tokotayev's save to hit the net and give Thailand the lead.
This was the first time Thailand won an opening match of the AFC Asian Cup, with their best record prior to this historic win being three draws and four losses.
Later, Oman set up a highly cohesive defence system to deny Saudi Arabia from scoring, but it could not withstand in the 78th minute when from the midfield, Mohamed Kanno passed back to Ali Lajami, who then set up a decisive pass for Abdulrahman Ghareeb as he successfully soloed over a rain of Omani defenders before curving beautifully to level the score.
Drama came in the sixth minute of extra time in the second half, when from a corner from Ghareeb sent to Lajami, who then gave a high pass to Ali Al-Bulaihi as he headed into the net of Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini; initially, the goal was disallowed for offside before it was thought to withstand due to a misunderstanding between the VAR team and the referee, only for the decision to be reversed as the Saudis triumphed in a hard-fought match, leaving Omani players in despair with this devastating loss.
Saudi Arabia got off to a dream start when a brutal foul by Ayzar Akmatov on Sami Al-Najei near Kyrgyzstan's penalty area at the 7th minute resulted in his dismissal.
Things only became better for the Saudis when another dangerous foul from Kimi Merk on Hassan Al-Tambakti at the 50th minute resulted in Kyrgyzstan reduce to nine men.
In term of competitive fixtures, they met twice, the most recent one occurred during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification where Kyrgyzstan shocked Oman with a 1–0 win.
Oman started on a bright note when, from a perfectly combined corner kick, Muhsen Al-Ghassani headed home at the eighth minute following chaotic attempts by both the Kyrgyz and Omanis to gain field; VAR later confirmed after the ball landed over the line.