Indonesia to play Saudi Arabia, Iraq in 2026 World Cup fourth qualifying round

Drawn into a difficult group in the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, the Indonesian team faces the biggest challenge in their journey to win a ticket to the world football festival, but this is also a historic opportunity for the team from the archipelago to create a miracle.

Indonesia competes with Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Photo: AFC .

On the afternoon of July 17, the draw ceremony for the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia took place. The six teams participating in this round include Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Oman and Indonesia - the only representative of Southeast Asia.

The draw of luck put Indonesia in Group B with Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The remaining three teams including Qatar, UAE and Oman compete in Group A. Group A will be hosted by Qatar, while Saudi Arabia will be the host of Group B. The matches of the two groups will take place from October 8 to 14.

The fourth qualifying round is the decisive stage, with only the top team in each group qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The two runners-up will face off in a play-off on November 13 and 18 for a place in the intercontinental play-off in March 2026.

For Indonesia, the upcoming journey is a huge challenge. Coach Kluivert and his team must beat both Saudi Arabia and Iraq to keep their hopes of making history alive. In theory, they still have a chance if they finish second in the group, but the probability of passing the intercontinental play-off round is very low.

In the previous qualifying round, Indonesia drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia in the first leg and won 2-0 in the second leg. However, when facing Iraq in the second qualifying round, the archipelago nation lost 1-5 and 0-2 respectively. Indonesia was in the same group as Vietnam and was led by coach Shin Tae-yong.

With a squad consisting of many naturalized players, Indonesia is expected to be an unknown quantity in the final qualifying round before the 2026 World Cup.

Source: https://znews.vn/indonesia-dau-saudi-arabia-iraq-o-vong-loai-thu-tu-world-cup-2026-post1569386.html