The Indonesian team still has a chance to attend the 2026 World Cup, if…

Indonesian team "returns to earth"

After the first 3 matches in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, the Indonesian team had an impressive performance, making not only fans in the archipelago country but also Southeast Asian audiences look forward to it. Coach Shin Tae-yong's team drew with the "big guys" of continental football (and often won tickets to the World Cup finals) such as Saudi Arabia (1-1), Australia (0-0), before regrettably dropping the victory in the extra minutes against Bahrain (leading 2-1, but being equalized 2-2 in the 90+9 minute).

In the fourth match against a more capable opponent like China, the Indonesian team was expected to make a difference and win the first match to break away to the top of Group C. However, the team from the archipelago country quickly "came back to earth" when they lost 1-2 to China.

Indonesian team with many naturalized players

The defeat to China exposed many problems of the Indonesian team. "As much hope as disappointment", a wave of criticism was directed at the members of the team of the archipelago country and especially head coach Shin Tae-yong. Many people think that the dream of the World Cup is still too far away for teams in the Southeast Asian region.

However, the door is not yet closed for the Indonesian team, as the road ahead is still long. In theory, coach Shin Tae-yong's team is not without a chance to win a ticket to the World Cup finals.

The road is still long

The 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia has 18 teams competing, divided equally into 3 groups (6 teams each), playing in a round-robin format (home and away). Each team will play a total of 10 matches. Accordingly, the top two teams in each group will directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals taking place in the US, Mexico and Canada.

The third and fourth placed teams in each group (6 teams) will be divided into two groups (3 teams each) to compete in the fourth qualifying round of the Asian region. The first place team in these two groups will qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, the second placed teams in the fourth qualifying round will play each other in a home-and-away format, determining the overall winner to participate in the intercontinental play-off round.

Rankings in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia after 4 matches. The gap between the teams in Group C is not large.

The 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia was suspended after the FIFA Days in October, and the Indonesian team currently has 3 points (goal difference -1) and is second to last (5th) in Group C. From the table, it can be seen that the gap in points between the teams is not large, except for Japan, who has proven their superiority and is leading Group C with 10 points and an unbeaten record (3 wins, 1 draw). The teams ranked 2nd (Australia), 3rd (Saudi Arabia) and 4th (Bahrain) in Group C all have only 5 points. The goal difference between Indonesia and the teams above is also not much different.

The Indonesian team still has 6 more matches in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia. Not to mention the 2 direct tickets for the first and second place teams in Group C, but Indonesia can completely think about a ticket to the fourth qualifying round (for the third and fourth place teams in the group).

With what has been shown against Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bahrain, fans of the archipelago country have reason to hope that the Indonesian team will go further!

The 2026 World Cup will be the first World Cup to increase the number of participating teams from 32 to 48. According to FIFA's allocation, Asia will have 8 direct participation slots and 1 intercontinental play-off slot.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-indonesia-con-co-hoi-du-world-cup-2026-neu-185241017110052904.htm