he Indonesian national soccer team faces an uphill battle to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after its loss to Australia last week, adding to pressure for a win against Bahrain in Jakarta on Tuesday evening.
Australia crushed Indonesia 5-1 in front of a home crowd at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney. Indonesia, the only Southeast Asian team left in the stage, fell to fourth position in Group C of the World Cup Asia qualifiers as a result.
The loss further dimmed Indonesian soccer fans’ hopes of grabbing the runner-up spot to secure an automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in North America. The top two teams at the end of the stage will qualify for the World Cup, while the third- and fourth-place teams will advance to a fourth qualifying round.
With three matches left in the qualifier, analysts and the country’s soccer-crazed public have referred to the upcoming match as a “must-win” for Indonesia, before it faces China and Japan in the last two games in June.
“If we draw or lose to Bahrain, it would be ridiculously tough to fight to fourth place with Bahrain and China right behind us,” soccer pundit Gita Suwondo told The Jakarta Post.
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Bahrain and China, sitting in Group C’s fifth and sixth spots, respectively, fall short of Indonesia only in total number of goals.
