Defeating the 12th ranked team in Asia, Indonesia hopes to attend the 2026 World Cup

At home, Indonesia must win against Bahrain to keep their ambition of entering the 4th round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers alive. After the opening whistle, the Southeast Asian representative rushed to attack in search of the opening goal of the match.

Meanwhile, Bahrain knew they could not risk attacking on the away field. They retreated deep to defend but faced many dangerous shots from Indonesia. In the 15th minute, goalkeeper Lutfallah made an excellent save to block Thom Haye's tricky free kick. However, the away team's defense could not hold out for long.

The Indonesian team still has a chance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

In the 24th minute, receiving a long pass from his teammate, Marselino Ferdinan subtly poked Romeny to finish accurately, opening the score for the Indonesian team. With the momentum of excitement, the home team played better and better. Unfortunately, they failed to take advantage of the opportunity to increase the score to 2-0 in the first half.

In the second half, Indonesia had moments of losing concentration. Bahrain could still approach Paes' goal. However, Sayed and his teammates were not sharp enough to score.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian team could only blame themselves because they wasted many scoring opportunities. Oratmangoen passed the ball very well to Marselino Ferdinan but the striker born in 2004 shot high into the sky from just 6 meters away. Indonesia almost paid the price when Marhoon was very close to equalizing for Bahrain.

Then it was Ricky's turn to pass the ball very skillfully but his teammate missed the shot despite facing goalkeeper Lutfallah. In the final minutes, Indonesia did everything to protect the score. They won 1-0 and have 9 points after 8 matches, still have a chance to qualify for the World Cup when they are 4 points behind the second-placed team Australia with 2 matches left in the qualifying round.

Line-up:

Indonesia: Maarten Paes, Jay Idzes, Justin Hubner, Rizky Ridho, Kevin Diks, Verdonk, Haye, Pelupessy, Ferdinan, Oratmangoen, Romenij

Bahrain: Lutfallah, Bughammar, Baqer, Al Hayam, Al Khalasi, Sayed Dhiya, Al Aswad, Madan, Marhoon, Al Humaidan, Abduljabbar

Mai Phuong

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/thang-doi-hang-12-chau-a-indonesia-nuoi-hy-vong-du-world-cup-2026-ar933781.html