Observer: Indonesia's Opportunity To Win Against Small Iraq In The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

The Indonesian national team when adapting to the International Basra Stadium (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA Football observer Tommy Welly assessed that Indonesia's chances of winning over Iraq in the first match of Group F of the 2026 Asian Zone Qualification World Cup were very small.

Indonesia will play an away match to Iraq headquarters at the Basra International Stadium on Thursday, November 16, 2023. The match starts at 21.45 WIB.

Tommy said on Iraqi paper was a tough opponent for the Garuda Team. Therefore, the draw results became the most realistic.

"The prediction of winning chances is slim. The percentage is small. I prefer to see the sentence of Shin Tae-yong who says he is trying to reduce it and not conquer it or overcome it," said Tommy when contacted by VOI.

So far, Indonesia has met Iraq 11 times. From the record of the meeting, the Garuda Squad won twice, lost six, and the other three matches ended in a draw.

Then in the FIFA rankings, the position of Iraq and Indonesia is also like heaven and Earth. Currently Iraq is ranked 68th, while Indonesia occupies the 145th place.

Tommy said that apart from having won Asia 2007, the record also shows Iraq is ahead of Shin Tae-yong's squad. No wonder he predicts Indonesia will tend to be defensive in the match later.

"So, I saw the target of one point, drawing. STY said he would try to reduce it, meaning that I saw from the sentence that the target was not to lose. If that's the prediction, we hope that we can draw," he said.

Indonesia played this match after securing two consecutive victories against Brunei Darussalam in the first round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

Apart from fighting Iraq, the Indonesian national team's troops will meet the Philippines and Vietnam. The closest is traveling to the Philippines on November 21, 2023.