Indonesia's arduous journey to find a ticket to the 2026 World Cup

List of Indonesia's opponents gradually revealed

The 4th qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia will have 6 teams participating. These are the teams ranked 3rd and 4th in the third qualifying round of this tournament.

Currently, the teams that have confirmed their place in the 4th qualifying round include UAE and Qatar (Group A, 3rd qualifying round), Iraq (Group B), and Indonesia (Group C).

Teams with a high chance of making it to the fourth qualifying round include Oman or Palestine (Group B), Saudi Arabia or Australia (Group C).

Hành trình gian nan để Indonesia tìm kiếm tấm vé dự World Cup 2026 - 1 — Indonesia has won a ticket to the 4th qualifying round of the Asian region (Photo: AFC).

Among them, Saudi Arabia and Australia are competing for the second place in Group C. Whichever team loses in their direct confrontation on June 10 will fall into the fourth qualifying round, and the winner will directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

With Oman and Palestine, in theory, Palestine is the weaker team. They also have fewer points than Oman (9 points compared to 10 points). The match on June 10, although Palestine is nominally playing at home, in reality the match will take place at a neutral venue in Amman (Jordan), so Palestine's chances of being eliminated are even greater.

That also means Indonesia is likely to face teams including UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia (or Australia), Oman (or Palestine) in the fourth qualifying round.

Among these, except for Oman (or Palestine), all the remaining teams are theoretically stronger than Indonesia.

The road to the World Cup for Indonesia remains very complicated.

The 6 teams that have qualified for the 4th round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia will be divided into two groups of 3 teams each. The top team in each group will qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals (the 7th and 8th places in Asia).

The two runners-up in each group of the fourth qualifying round will play the fifth qualifying round, which is the Asian play-off (two legs). The winner of the Asian play-off will advance to the intercontinental play-off.

Hành trình gian nan để Indonesia tìm kiếm tấm vé dự World Cup 2026 - 2 — However, the road to the World Cup finals for Indonesia is still very complicated (Photo: AFC).

The intercontinental play-off round includes one representative from Africa, one representative from South America, one representative from Oceania, one representative from Asia and two representatives from the North, Central America and Caribbean region (CONCACAF). A total of six teams participate in the intercontinental play-off round.

The six teams are divided according to their FIFA rankings. The four lowest-ranked teams will be drawn into knockout matches. The winners of these knockout matches will then play the highest-ranked teams in the intercontinental play-offs, which will determine the two teams that will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Therefore, if Indonesia cannot top one of the two groups in the fourth round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, their path to the 2026 World Cup finals will be extremely complicated.

At that time, Indonesia will not only face teams in Asia, but also risk facing teams of good quality from South America, CONCACAF and Africa.