Indonesia (left) held Australia to a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home in September 2024 - Photo: AFP
Currently, after 6 matches, the Indonesian team (6 points) is ranked 3rd in Group C in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia. They are behind Japan (16 points) and Australia (7 points).
This is a surprising ranking for the Southeast Asian representative as they are above Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China. This position gives coach Patrick Kluivert's team the right to dream of a ticket to the World Cup next year.
6 point match
In addition to Japan, which has taken the top spot in Group C, if it finishes second in the group, the Indonesian team will have a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup. If it finishes the third qualifying round in the top 4, the archipelago team will also have a chance to compete for a ticket to the World Cup in the play-off round.
Therefore, coach Patrick Kluivert and his team will travel to Australia with the determination to get 3 points to win 2nd place in Group C. This is completely an achievable goal with the current strength and form of the Indonesian team.
The 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the previous round "lit up" the door to conquering a World Cup ticket for the Southeast Asian representative. In the first leg match at home in September 2024, Indonesia under the leadership of coach Shin Tae Yong held the Australian team to a 0-0 draw.
Compared to the first leg, the current force of the Indonesian team is considered stronger thanks to the addition of many new faces through the wave of naturalization of stars in Europe.
Currently, the value of the Indonesian squad is up to 36.53 million euros - about 1.5 times higher than the 23.75 million euros of the Australian team. Notable among them are new recruits Emil Audero (Palermo Club, Italy), Dean James (Go Ahead Eagles, Netherlands), Joey Pelupessy (Lommel, Belgium) and Ole Romeny (Oxford, England).
The defense will be the mainstay of the Indonesian team with former Juventus goalkeeper Emil Audero, center back Mees Hilgers (Twente, Netherlands) - a player valued at 9 million euros. Center back Kevin Diks (4.5 million euros) of FC Copenhagen is also a prominent face.
On the attack line, the Indonesian team has high hopes for rookie Ole Romeny, who is playing in the English First Division, and young star Marselino Ferdinan, who scored two goals against Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, host Australia's form in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers was also not good when they only had a single victory against China. They were defeated by Bahrain and drew all four remaining matches.
Waiting for the debut of coach Patrick Kluivert - Photo: PSSI
Waiting for the debut of coach Patrick Kluivert
Former Dutch star Kluivert joined the Indonesian national team in January this year, after coach Shin Tae Yong was fired following the failure at the 2024 ASEAN Cup. In addition, the fact that they only won 6 points after 6 matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers also made the leaders of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) unhappy. That was the reason why PSSI replaced Mr. Shin Tae Yong with coach Kluivert.
This Dutch coach is expected to help the Indonesian team play more effectively. However, the new coach Kluivert faces many difficulties when leading the Indonesian team. The biggest problem is that he does not have much time to get acquainted with Indonesian football. Next is that most of the naturalized players of the Indonesian team do not have much time to practice together.
According to Indonesian press, coach Patrick Kluivert will not have enough players to practice until March 17. Thus, he only has about 3 days to officially prepare for the decisive match with host Australia. The lack of time to interact and work with the players makes it difficult for coach Kluivert to convey his philosophy to his players. At the same time, they cannot have a good connection and coordination with each other.
Head-to-head history is also against Indonesia, as they have never won against Australia since 1981. In the last 5 encounters, Indonesia lost 3 times and drew 2.
However, with the desire to conquer a ticket to the World Cup, the Indonesian team will be determined to get 3 points or at least a draw against Australia.
Heavy task for Saudi Arabia team
The remaining two matches in the 7th round of Group C will be between Japan vs Bahrain and Saudi Arabia vs China.
Saudi Arabia has a tough task as they have only 6 points - equal to bottom-placed China and only have a better goal difference. Meanwhile, sitting comfortably at the top of Group C, Japan only needs one more win to become the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
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