Kevin Diks Believes Failure To The 2026 World Cup Makes The Indonesian National Team Stronger

JAKARTA - Indonesian national team player Kevin Diks believes that failure to the 2026 World Cup will make the Garuda squad grow stronger.

"Right now it feels empty, but I know one day this pain will turn into power," said the Borussia Moenchengladbach player.

Kevin Diks has always started and played full in two matches of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers World Zone 2026 against Saudi Arabia and Iraq, all of which ended in defeat.

In two matches played at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Jeddah, Kevin Diks started the match against Arab Saud in a duet with Jay Idzes in the center back. In that match, he scored two penalty goals in a 2-3 defeat.

In the second match, Kevin Diks played slightly wide as a right-back, with defenders being filled by duo Rizky Ridho and Jay Idzes.

Despite trying hard to bring the Indonesian national team to make history by qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, Kevin Diks admitted that he could not cover up his disappointment.

"It hurts to explain how painful this is. We dream of something so big and we give everything to make it happen."

"Every exercise, every game, is for this country and for people who believe in us," said the player who made his debut in the Indonesian national team in the match against Japan in Jakarta last year.

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old player did not forget to thank the Garuda Squad supporters who always support anywhere and anytime the Indonesian national team plays.

"Thank you Indonesia for standing with us through all this," said Kevin Diks.

After the 2026 edition, the nearest World Cup will be played in 2030 in six countries, namely Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay. It became the 100th World Cup edition since it was first held in Uruguay in 1930.

"We will continue to fight for this dream, forever," Kevin Diks said, giving a message to Garuda supporters that his team was still giving up on realizing their dream of playing in the World Cup.