The third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia ended on the evening of June 10. The six teams that won tickets to the 2026 World Cup are Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan, and Australia.
The 6 teams that qualified for the 4th qualifying round were UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, while the 6 teams that were eliminated were Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Palestine, Kuwait, China, and Bahrain.
Indonesia ended the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia with a 0-6 loss to Japan on the evening of June 10 (Photo: AFC).
The 4th round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia will feature six teams, including Indonesia and representatives from the West Asian region, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE and Qatar. They will be divided into two groups of three teams each.
The top team in each group will qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The runners-up will compete in the fifth qualifying round to determine the team representing Asia in the Intercontinental Play-offs with teams from Oceania, North, Central America and South America.
The matches of the 4th qualifying round for Asia will take place from 8th to 14th October on neutral grounds. The 5th qualifying round will take place in November. The draw for the 4th qualifying round will take place on 17th July in Osaka, Japan.
According to the FIFA rankings, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the top two seeds, followed by UAE, Iraq (pot 2) and Indonesia, Oman (pot 3). Teams in the same group in the third qualifying round can still face each other. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are also being prioritized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as hosts of the fourth qualifying round.
According to the seeding results, the only opponent that Indonesia will not face is Oman, they will face Saudi Arabia/Qatar and Iraq/UAE. Oman is a team considered to be on par with the Southeast Asian representative, while the remaining 4 West Asian opponents are all considered to be of a higher level than Coach Kluivert and his team.
Coach Kluivert still has a lot of work to do if he wants to take Indonesia through the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup (Photo: AFC).
Saudi Arabia has been a regular representative at the World Cup since 2006, Qatar is the current Asian Cup champion. Iraq and UAE have always been among the top 10 strongest teams in Asia for the past 20 years, showing great ambition to participate in the 2026 World Cup.
Indonesia finished the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia with 12 points/10 matches, they lost to Japan (2 matches), Australia, China, drew with Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and won against Saudi Arabia, China, Bahrain.
Indonesia's record against West Asian representatives is also quite good, they won and drew when facing Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in two meetings. This is the basis for Indonesia to believe in the opportunity to overcome the challenge in the 4th qualifying round.
However, Indonesia's journey to the 2026 World Cup promises to be arduous and the nature of the fourth qualifying round has a completely different meaning. The 0-6 defeat to Japan on the afternoon of June 10 showed that Indonesia still has a lot to improve if it wants to fulfill its dream of reaching the US, Canada, and Mexico in the summer of 2026.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/thu-thach-bong-da-tay-a-cua-indonesia-o-vong-loai-thu-4-world-cup-2026-20250612083520707.htm
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