JAKARTA The Indonesian national team still has five matches remaining in the third round of the Asian zone 2026 World Cup qualifiers after suffering a crushing defeat against Japan.
Indonesia is now perched at the bottom of Group C standings with three points after admitting Japan 0-4 at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday, November 15 evening WIB.
However, Indonesia's hopes of playing in the 2026 World Cup will not be extinguished. The remaining five matches ahead make Indonesia still have a chance even though it must continue to the next round.
The closest match the Shin Tae Yong squad will face is to host Saudi Arabia. The clash will take place at SUGBK on Tuesday, November 19 nearest.
Previously when playing in Saudi Arabia in the first match of the group last September, Indonesia brought home one point. At that time, this match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The remaining four matches after hosting Arabia will all take place from March to June next year. It consists of two away games and two home games.
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The Garuda squad will start the journey in 2025 by traveling to Australia on March 20. Five days later, Indonesia got its turn to host Bahrain in Senayan.
Indonesia returned to play home game on June 5 against China. The Red and White team's struggle was then closed with an away match against Japan for five days.
To be able to immediately get a World Cup ticket from the third round, Indonesia must at least be the runner-up of the group. This position was a bit difficult for the Shin Tae Yong squad to catch after the recent minor results.
However, Indonesia could lock in the third or fourth position to advance to the fourth round of qualification. There are six countries that will win two tickets available at that phase.
The remaining 5 matches for Indonesia:
Indonesia Vs Saudi Arabia Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Australia Vs Indonesia Kamis, March 20, 2025
Indonesia vs Bahrain Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Indonesia Vs China Kamis, June 5, 2025
Japan Vs Indonesia Tuesday, June 10, 2025
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
