The Indonesian National Team Will Be More Mixed When Facing Bahrain

The Indonesian national team will have better chemistry when they meet Bahrain (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team is scheduled to meet Bahrain in the eighth match of Group C of the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

The Garuda squad has learned a lot from the defeat against Australia 1-5 in Sydney on Thursday, March 20, 2025.

One of the Indonesian national team players, Marselino Ferdinand, said that the chemistry of the Garuda Squad when meeting Australia was not yet good.

"We know that chemistry cannot be built in a day or two. If we look at the match against Australia, there are many corrections," Marselino said at a press conference before the match in Jakarta, Monday, March 24, 2025.

However, the Oxford United player said his team had now evaluated the match against Australia. In fact, he emphasized that the Garuda Team was 100 percent ready to win the match against Bahrain at 20.45 WIB.

He admitted that he was very optimistic that he could make up for the disappointment at the first meeting in October 2024 when the two teams drew 2-2.

For Marselino, the match will be very special for him. You see, the last time he played at SUGBK, he became a field star by scoring two goals against Saudi Arabia in a historic 2-0 victory.

"As coach Patrick (Kluivert) said, we are 100 percent ready. We have evaluated the first match against Australia."

"We will look at the Bahrain match very seriously. We will show who we are in the next game," said the 20-year-old.

The defeat to Australia made Indonesia drop to fourth place with six points from seven matches.

The Garuda squad is three points adrift of Saudi Arabia, which is in third place, then four points behind Australia in second place.

Meanwhile, Japan could no longer be bothered at the top of the standings. Samurai Blue has packed 19 points and became the first team to confirm itself for the 2026 World Cup.

The top two teams of each 2026 World Cup Qualification Third Round group qualify for the finals. This means that the Indonesian national team currently has to fight for second place to accompany Japan.

Apart from that, each group's third and fourth rankings will chase the remaining tickets in the Fourth Round, while the bottom two teams will automatically fall.