World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers: Indonesia has no way back

Indonesia team (right) must defeat Bahrain - Photo: AFC

Stronger force

Before entering March 2025, Indonesia still had a great chance to win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup when they ranked 3rd in Group C with 6 points. However, the heavy 1-5 defeat to Australia in the 7th round on March 20 made their chance to win a ticket to the biggest football festival on the planet more difficult than ever.

If Indonesia wants to increase its chances of reaching the 2026 World Cup, the only way is to defeat Bahrain in tonight's match. In theory, Bahrain is not stronger than Indonesia.

In the first leg, Indonesia let Bahrain take back 1 point regrettably when the opponent equalized 2-2 in the 90+9 minute. In this second leg, Indonesia has many reasons to believe in a victory. That is the advantage of playing at home. Not to mention that the Indonesian team at this time with many more naturalized players is much stronger than when they drew with Bahrain.

However, the Indonesian team has encountered problems that make fans feel worried. In the match against Australia, the Indonesian team showed a clear lack of cohesion in their playing style. This is understandable when Indonesian players gather in many clubs and rarely have the opportunity to play together.

In addition, coach Patrick Kluivert showed that he has certain limitations in his ability to lead a team. In the match against Australia, coach Patrick Kluivert did not leave any mark. The Dutch strategist did not have a plan B and was quite slow in his ability to "read" the game.

Coach Patrick Kluivert is under a lot of pressure in tonight's match - Photo: REUTERS

Psychological anxiety

But the biggest concern of the Indonesian players is that their fighting spirit has been seriously affected after the 1-5 loss to Australia. What the Indonesian team needs to do now is to try to revive their spirit to fight for the goal of winning a ticket to the World Cup.

But the difficulty for Indonesia is that coach Patrick Kluivert is not good at psychology. Not to mention that most of the Indonesian players are naturalized, so it is difficult for them to play together and show a common spirit. Even the languages, they speak different languages.

Despite such difficulties, midfielder Rizky Ridho still showed confidence: "After losing to Australia, the Indonesian team felt disappointed. We have reassessed and need to try to overcome the disappointment. We have an important match at home and must win. The players must keep their spirits up. Defeat needs to be learned from and stand up."

In addition to the match between Indonesia and Bahrain, the 8th match of the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup still has many other attractive matches: Japan - Saudi Arabia, China - Australia, Korea - Jordan, Iran - Uzbekistan...

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vong-loai-world-cup-2026-khu-vuc-chau-a-indonesia-khong-con-duong-lui-2025032510484794.htm