The Indonesia vs Saudi Arabia national team match will be held tonight at 19.00 WIB

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – The Indonesian national team will continue its action in the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone against guests Saudi Arabia.

This match will be held at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta today, Thursday (19/11/2024) starting at 19.00 WIB. Indonesia must win this match to maintain its chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Those in first and second place in the final group standings will immediately qualify for the 2026 World Cup final. Meanwhile, the teams in third and fourth positions will have to play in the fourth round to compete for the remaining places.

The Indonesian national team must win the match against Saudi Arabia to maintain their chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Currently, squad Shin Tae-yong’s team is the only team in Group C that has never won.

As a result, Jay Idzes and friends are still slumped in last position out of the six participants because they have only won three points, the result of three draws and two defeats. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is now in third place with six points.

The points they have achieved are the same as second place Australia and fourth place China. Bahrain occupies fifth position with a collection of five points. In other matches in Group C, Tuesday (19/11/2024), China will meet guests Japan and Australia will visit Bahrain’s headquarters.

The Indonesian national team will appear without defender Kevin Diks. This player, who had just completed the naturalization process, suffered an injury during the match against Japan, last Friday (11/15/2024). The defender who once represented the Netherlands U-21 was withdrawn in the 41st minute and replaced by Sandy Walsh.

PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir emphasized that the Indonesian National Team must win, aka get three points against Saudi Arabia in the third round of Group C qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone.

“I always want to win. “Basically, there are three points that we have been waiting for,” said Erick to journalists at Danareksa Tower, Central Jakarta, Monday (18/11/2024).

He emphasized that Indonesia needed a win to add three points to the Group C standings. However, he did not comment on his predictions for Indonesia’s match against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (19/11/2024).

The home match at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK) is considered very important. Because with increasing points, the difference in points with other countries will be smaller.

“Yes, if it turns out that all the matches from other countries are draws and we win, that’s not bad, the difference is only one point,” he said.

Meanwhile, coach Shin Tae-yong is confident that the Indonesian national team will reap different results against Saudi Arabia this time. In the first match of the qualifying round, the Indonesian national team only achieved a draw at home to Saudi Arabia.

At that time, the Indonesian national team took the lead thanks to Sandy Walsh’s goal in the 19th minute. However. Saudi Arabia then equalized the score in the 45+3 minute. Indonesian goalkeeper Maarten Paes saved Saudi Arabia’s penalty kick in this match.

Also Read: Kevin Diks is injured, this is the predicted line-up for the Indonesian national team vs Saudi Arabia

“I believe in the players tomorrow the results will change, depending on how hard and how hard the players fight against Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The Indonesian national team is trying to prepare well ahead of the match against Saudi Arabia. The coach from South Korea remains confident that his players will appear full of enthusiasm.

“I am very confident in the players and am more enthusiastic about the match against Saudi Arabia,” he said.