1 day Ago By sara.alshurafa
Tuesday saw a fitting end to this year’s 2026 World Cup qualification matches. It had everything — so much so, we are bringing you that instead of the usual five things we learned from a breathless eight hours or so of action across Asia, we are bringing you five. No “new manager bounce” and no complaints for Saudi Arabia Indonesia’s 2-0 win over the Green Falcons — their first — came as no big surprise, given the 1-1 draw in Jeddah back in September.
But the fact this was a deserved victory for the hosts was worrying. When Herve Renard was brought back last month, it was hoped he’d bring with him some of the old magic from the 2022 tournament qualifiers. But it there was a sign of it in last week’s 0-0 draw in Australia, there was none in Jakarta.
Indonesia hit the post in the opening minute and seemed more energetic, more determined and more prepared for the following 90 or so. There were queries about a few refereeing decisions, but that is not why Indonesia won. They were the better team.
The defeat means there have been three goals scored in six games, two from the head of Hassan Kadesh in China. There have been none in the last four and little threat of any. The injury to Salem Al-Dawsari, whose status as the country’s best player is reinforced in his absence, was felt deeply.
There was nobody to get their foot on the ball, nobody able to run at the defense and nobody who could find that killer pass. There were far too many aimless crosses into the area. Saudi Arabia perhaps underestimated Indonesia, who were much improved and had a clear game plan.
At this stage in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Saudi Arabia had 16 points. They currently have six. Last time, there was a sense they were on the march to Qatar.
That’s not the case now. Such results four years ago would have meant that famous win against Argentina never happened. But it is not over by a long shot.
The bright spot is that with Japan running away with one of the top two automatic qualification places, no other team is managing to win much either. Renard will have been relieved Australia did not taste victory in Bahrain to go three points clear in second; their 2-2 draw means the Socceroos have seven points and the rest — Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China and Bahrain — are all on six. The group could not be tighter and, while exciting for the neutral, Saudi Arabian fans will be expecting an improvement in 2025.
In a dramatic encounter, Bahrain drew 2-2 with Australia. It is hard to say how the two teams will feel about the result but, for the third time in four home games, there was huge excitement late on. The Reds left it until deep into injury time to get a point against Indonesia in October, and had a late goal disallowed against China only to lose in added time.
This was even more exciting. When Kusini Yengi put Australia ahead in the opening minute, it looked as if the Socceroos would get revenge for their home defeat in September. But then came two goals in three second-half minutes from Mahdi Abduljabbar, putting Bahrain on the brink of a famous victory and into second place in the group.
However, Yengi struck again, 95 minutes after his first. The spoils were shared and a tight group got tighter still. Two teams with seven points apiece met in Abu Dhabi.
Both expected a tight encounter but it proved anything but — the UAE thrashed Qatar, the Asian champions, 5-0. It was a stunning victory and a stunning performance from Fabio Lima, who scored all but one against a hapless Qatari defense. The signs were there, with 12 goals conceded from the first five games, but there were huge gaps for the hosts to enjoy themselves just as they did with that 3-1 away win on the opening day.
With three away games to come for the UAE this was a must win, keeping them in the hunt for second, three points behind Uzbekistan who beat North Korea 1-0. Qatar are surely out of the running as they trail by six points with just four games remaining. If the 2022 World Cup hosts are going to qualify, they will have to do it the hard way.
For the second time in two months, Palestine held the mighty South Korea to a draw. It was 0-0 in Seoul and 1-1 in Amman, and both results were a credit to their spirit, determination and skill. Zaid Al Qunbar opened the scoring after 12 minutes, capitalizing on a mistake from Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min soon equalized, but that was that. This was not one-way traffic; Palestine, playing in front of a largely empty stadium, gave as good as they got and are just three points off fourth. Iraq, meanwhile, picked up a 1-0 win in Oman to move two points clear of Jordan in third.
It is the kind of quiet victory that takes teams to the World Cup. There is still work to do — but the same can be said of all but two or three teams out of the 18. 2025 will be unmissable.
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