President Jokowi Will Watch Directly The Indonesia Vs Australia Match

A number of Australian national team footballers warm up before official training ahead of the match against the Indonesian National Team/ANTARA PHOTO/HAFIDZ MUBARAK)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will witness the Indonesian football national team match against Australia in the third round of Group C match of the Asian zone 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Tuesday (10/9).

"The President's plan is to watch the Indonesian versus Australian national team football match tomorrow night at GBK (Gelora Bung Karno)," said Deputy for Protocol, Press and Media of the Presidential Secretariat Yusuf Permana as reported by ANTARA, Monday, September 9.

Yusuf said the President's direct presence was of course to provide support and encouragement to the national team to achieve the best results against Australia.

Previously, the Indonesian national team coach Shin Tae-yong said his squad was confident in facing Australia, although the difference in the quality of the two teams was quite wide.

"Australia is currently ranked 24th in FIFA, while Indonesia is at 133. So tomorrow's match is not easy but we are a team that does not give up," Shin said in a pre-match press conference at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta, Monday.

Shin said that his foster children's physical appearance continued to improve after holding Saudi Arabia to a 1-1 draw in the first match of Group C in Jeddah, Friday (6/9) early morning WIB.

Not only physical, Ragnar Oratmangoen and his friends' performance was also called Shin getting better because they were honed in matches versus Saudi Arabia.

Indonesia will face Australia in the third round of Group C qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, Tuesday (10/9) starting at 19.00 WIB.

The match will be the second match for both teams in the qualifiers. In the first match, Indonesia held a 1-1 draw against the host Saudi Arabia and Australia was beaten by the Bahrain guest team with a score of 0-1.

Currently, Indonesia is in fourth place in the standings with one point while Group C has the third round of the Asian zone 2026 World Cup qualifiers below Japan's number one (six points), second Bahrain (six points) and third Saudi Arabia (one point). In fifth and sixth place are Australia and China with zero points.