Nathan Tjoe-A-On Tak Gentar Dengan Lawan Di Kualifikasi Piala Dunia 2026

Nathan Tjoe-A-On is motivated to double in the Third Round of 2026 World Cup Qualifiers (Instagram/@nathantjoeaon).

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team will play the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification in the Asian Zone starting September 2024.

The Garuda squad is in Group C against Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, China, and Bahrain.

One of the Indonesian national team players, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, is well aware that his team's opponents are much stronger than the previous round.

Moreover, a number of strong Asian teams have previously been faced, such as Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. However, the 22-year-old insists he is not afraid.

"This is a group full of quality, but I think we also have a lot of quality. We shouldn't be afraid of these teams because, yes, this is football, anything can happen."

"We just need to analyze how they play and where our chances are. Then, we have to be able to take advantage of their weaknesses and show our quality," Nathan said on the FIFA website.

Nathan further was enthusiastic about welcoming the matches. He revealed that the Indonesian national team players must prepare well at their respective clubs before joining the training camp.

"We are very enthusiastic about what we will face. I think we have to prepare for pre-season at the club to get ourselves in the best condition to face the upcoming matches and be fit to perform as well as possible," said the Swansea City player.

The Indonesian national team has the opportunity to play at the 2026 World Cup. The top two teams of each group in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers immediately qualified for the finals.

Nathan looks at the opportunity with confidence. He didn't want to be inferior even though the Garuda squad was not seeded.

The player who can play on the left back and the midfielder is motivated to make history for the Red-White Team.

"I think for every player, if I speak on behalf of all the players in our team, it (lolos to the 2026 World Cup) is a dream."

"When you are young and young, you always dream of playing on the big stage. If you are able to try to get a stage opportunity or the end of the tournament (qualification) then you have to do everything you can to achieve that goal," said the Dutchman.

Quota of 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup opens the opportunity for the Indonesian national team to appear there. The Asian zone has eight slots to qualify directly and one place is contested through the playoff inter-confederation.

Nathan assessed that the new format made his motivation multiplied to appear all out in order to make good use of the opportunity in front of his eyes.

"With this new format, of course there are more opportunities for Asian representatives to qualify for the World Cup."

"In my opinion, yes, this is very good for the World Cup. Now you can see more other countries that may usually be difficult to qualify."

"However, now there is a greater chance. So I think this is good," he said.

This year, the Indonesian national team is scheduled to play six matches of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Third Round from September to November.

Three of them were played at home, namely when they hosted Australia, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.