Predicted score: Indonesia's World Cup dreams shattered.

At 2:30 AM on October 12th (Vietnam time), Indonesia will face Iraq in the second match of Group B, Stage 4 of the World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region. The match will take place at the King Abdullah Sports Stadium.

Indonesia faces difficulties in World Cup qualifiers - Photo: BOLA

Indonesia's World Cup dream is facing a harsh reality. In their first match of this stage, they lost to Saudi Arabia 2-3.

Overall, this result isn't too bad. But in stage 4, only the top team in the group (a group of 3 teams) can qualify for the World Cup.

The loss to Saudi Arabia therefore puts Indonesia in a position where they must win against Iraq to have any hope of advancing. The Southeast Asian representative will only qualify if they beat Iraq by a high number of goals (e.g., 2-1, 3-2, 4-3...), and Iraq beats Saudi Arabia by a lower number of goals.

Indonesia can actually still dream of finishing second in the group – a relatively easier task for them. If they finish second, they will advance to stage 5 to compete for a play-off spot. But whatever their goal may be, Patrick Kluivert's team enters this match aiming for a decisive victory.

This goal is extremely difficult because they are facing an Iraq team that always plays very solidly. Unlike Saudi Arabia - a strong team but inconsistent in form - Iraq always easily defeats Southeast Asian representatives whenever they meet.

A prime example is Indonesia, who have lost to Iraq in all three of their most recent encounters. These were all heavy defeats, conceding a total of 10 goals while only scoring 2.

Iraq's most recent victory against Indonesia was in June last year. Compared to that time, Indonesia is now significantly stronger with a large number of naturalized star players.

Nevertheless, bookmakers still rate Iraq as the favorite in this match. Iraq's handicap for the entire match is 0.5 goals, and for the first half it is 0.25 goals. The over/under for the entire match is 2.25 goals, and for the first half it is 1 goal.

With the goal of winning, Indonesia needs to attack to secure 3 points. The match promises to be exciting as the Southeast Asian representative needs to score.

Indonesia will still face difficulties as they only have three days of rest after their loss to Saudi Arabia, while Iraq is in good shape having not played any matches yet.

Prediction: Iraq will win 1-0 in the first half, and win 3-1 overall.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/du-doan-ti-so-indonesia-chinh-thuc-tan-mong-world-cup-20251011101137982.htm