Indonesia suddenly asks FIFA, AFC to be transparent: 2026 World Cup tickets are too hot

The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) and Iraq Football Federation (IFA) have just sent a request to FIFA (the world football body) and AFC (Asia) to be transparent in choosing the host country in the 4th qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.

Indonesia and Iraq determined to block FIFA, AFC appoints Saudi Arabia and Qatar as hosts

In the 4th qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia (from October 8 to 14), it is stipulated that there will be 2 groups competing at a centralized location. With 3 teams in each group, playing a round-robin to calculate points, the top 2 teams of the two groups will qualify for the final round. The 2 second-placed teams will compete in a play-off, with the winning team qualifying for the Intercontinental play-off round to compete for a ticket.

Indonesia hopes to be awarded the right to host the 4th qualifying round by FIFA and AFC to take advantage of the support of its fans and compete for a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Photo: Reuters

There are now four teams officially participating in the fourth qualifying round of the Asian region, including Qatar (ranked 55th in the world , based on the April FIFA rankings), Iraq (59), UAE (65) and Indonesia (123). Only two spots remain to be determined.

Of which, Saudi Arabia has a 99.7% chance of participating, because the chance of winning a direct ticket with Australia in Group C in the third qualifying round is extremely low (only 0.3%), according to Footy Rankings . The remaining spot is a close contest between Oman (10 points) and Palestine (9 points, in Group B), which will only be determined in the final round when the two teams meet directly at 1:15 a.m. on June 11 on a neutral field in Jordan.

For the Saudi Arabian team, they need to beat the Australian team with a score difference of 5-0 or more in the final match of the third qualifying round at 1:15 a.m. on June 11 at home, to win the remaining direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia are currently three points behind Australia and have a goal difference of 0 to +8. A 5-0 win or more would see them level on 16 points with their opponents and have a goal difference of +5, while Australia would have a goal difference of +3. That would see Saudi Arabia secure the 6th official spot in the third qualifying round, following Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and Uzbekistan.

But if they win 4-0, they will still be eliminated, because they have the same points, the same goal difference +4, but will lose the total number of goals scored. Currently, the Australian team has scored 14 goals, while Saudi Arabia has only scored 6 goals. It seems that this task of winning a direct ticket is becoming more and more impossible for Saudi Arabia. Their goal is probably to calculate for the 4th qualifying round to compete for the remaining 2 tickets.

Indonesia can completely face Saudi Arabia again in the 4th qualifying round. In the 3rd qualifying round, they won this opponent 2-0 and drew 1-1.

Photo: Reuters

Therefore, there is news that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have taken advantage of their advantages to influence FIFA and AFC to appoint these two countries to host two groups in the 4th qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia. If they become the hosts, it is clear that Saudi Arabia and Qatar will have a huge advantage to win the remaining two tickets from Asia to the 2026 World Cup.

In the fourth qualifying round, the teams are expected to be seeded and separated into two groups at the draw ceremony taking place on July 17. Qatar, ranked 55th in the world, and Saudi Arabia (58th), if present in this round, will be drawn into two groups. Along with the factor of being the host, they will certainly have many advantages.

Therefore, PSSI and IFA immediately spoke up to request FIFA and AFC to be transparent in choosing the host country for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia. Both PSSI and IFA announced that they have officially submitted their applications to become one of the two host teams of the two groups in the 4th qualifiers, based on the time frame and all regulations created by FIFA and AFC. They are determined not to let these two leading football bodies designate Saudi Arabia and Qatar as hosts.

Meanwhile, PSSI President Erick Thohir confirmed that in case the Indonesian team is forced to compete in one of these two Middle Eastern countries, he believes that the home team will not be afraid of any opponent. And he asked the players to be extremely focused and make every effort to fight for the goal of winning a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/indonesia-bat-ngo-yeu-cau-fifa-afc-minh-bach-ve-du-world-cup-2026-qua-nong-bong-185250609080532008.htm