Dutch media predicts Indonesia will enter the 2026 World Cup play-off round

Indonesia still has a chance to win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup - Photo: AFP

The fact that a series of naturalized players from the Netherlands joined the Indonesian team, along with the appearance of coach Patrick Kluivert, has made the media in the land of Tulips pay special attention to the Southeast Asian representative.

Most notably, Voetbal International regularly follows and reports on the Indonesian team. In their latest analysis, they evaluated Coach Kluivert's journey in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

"Coach Patrick Kluivert has taken over as Indonesia coach at the right time. The road to the 2026 World Cup is still open, and they have complete control over their own decisions," Voetbal International commented.

However, Patrick Kluivert's debut was not very smooth when the representative of the "island country" suffered a 1-5 defeat against Australia on March 20.

Coach Patrick Kluivert (left) received much attention from the domestic media - Photo: AFP

This defeat makes Indonesia's chances of directly qualifying for the 2026 World Cup more difficult. "If they fail to qualify in the third round, coach Kluivert still has other opportunities," Voetbal International analyzed.

The newspaper calculates that Indonesia needs at least six points, equivalent to two wins, from their remaining three matches to maintain their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. That opportunity can be fully exploited when they play at home against Bahrain and China.

The top two places in the group will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup. The third and fourth placed teams will advance to the fourth qualifying round (play-off round).

Based on the current situation and remaining schedule, Voetbal International predicts that it is unlikely that the Indonesian team will win one of the top two positions in the group to get a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

However, by meeting two equally strong opponents, Bahrain and China, at home, they will have a great chance to enter the fourth qualifying round (play-off round).

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THANH DINH