Indonesia wins 'reverse final', revives chance to attend 2026 World Cup

TPO - In the match that decided the ticket to the next round for Indonesia as well as Bahrain, the home team took full advantage of the home field to return with a minimal victory, thereby taking a big step towards a ticket to the 4th qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

After the crushing 1-5 defeat to Australia, Indonesia changed quite a few positions in the starting lineup in the match against Bahrain on the evening of March 25. That was the appearance of Ridho, Haye, Pelupessy and Oratmangoen. And it brought positive signals. This team controlled the game well, launching dangerous attacks.

In the 24th minute, they opened the scoring. Marselino Ferdinan crossed for Romeny to curl the ball past Lutfalla to open the scoring. Thus, Romeny owned both of Indonesia's goals in the World Cup qualifying round in March. 1-0 was also the result of the first half.

In the second half, Indonesia withdrew their formation, played low and prioritized solid defense. But they had many better opportunities. In the 67th minute, Marselino Ferdinan had the ball quite comfortably. Standing next to him was Romeny in an unmarked position, but instead of passing the ball to Romeny to put the ball into the empty net, this midfielder curled the ball into the sky, throwing away a perfect opportunity.

Romeny scored both goals for Indonesia in March

Shortly after, Reijnders missed another good chance when he fired over the bar from just 10 yards.

Bahrain tried to push up the formation in the remaining time but their attacks could not even get into the penalty area because the Indonesian defense deployed very well to mark the man. The one-on-one ability of players playing in Europe such as Verdonk or Idzes also helped Indonesia lock down the opponent.

The 90 minutes of competition in Bung Karno ended with a minimal victory for Indonesia. Thus, they have 9 points and are close to Saudi Arabia. Indonesia also far ahead of China and Bahrain with a gap of 3 points. In the context of only 2 matches left, Indonesia is holding the advantage in the race to advance to the 4th qualifying round.

Dang Lai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/indonesia-thang-tran-chung-ket-nguoc-lam-song-day-co-hoi-du-world-cup-2026-post1728209.tpo