REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- PSSI General Chairman Erick Thohir voiced confidence that the Indonesian national team can compete in the third round of qualifying to win tickets to the 2026 World Cup.
“Nothing is impossible if we want to try (to qualify for the 2026 World Cup),” Erick said via his personal Instagram account @erickthohir, which was monitored in Jakarta on Friday (14/6/2024).
He explained that Indonesia became the only representative from the Southeast Asian region to join 17 other countries in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualification of the Asian zone.
The 17 countries are Qatar, Kuwait, China, South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia, Japan, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Palestine.
As a reminder, he said, Indonesia is ranked 134th, far below countries whose football teams are strong and have World Cup subscriptions such as Iran, South Korea, Japan.
However, Erick admitted he is optimistic that with various preparations and hard work then the Garuda squad is ready to face the nations for victory.
Earlier, Erick said, the national squad must be optimally prepared both physically and mentally as it will play 10 qualifying matches consisting of six matches in 2024 and four in 2025.
He mentioned that one of the steps taken was adjusting the schedule of league matches with national matches so that the players could gather on three or four days before the game.
“It was not immediately one, two days of gathering to compete directly, because this (national match) is even higher class and the league manager is taking care of it,” he said.
Erick has also held a meeting with coach Shin Tae-yong to discuss the preparation of the Indonesian national team for the next qualifying round.
The Indonesian national team ensured its qualification to the third round of the 2026 Asian World Cup qualification after defeating the Philippines with a score of 2-0 in the match that took place at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, on Tuesday (11/6/2024).
In the third round, the 18 nations will be divided in three groups, each group of six teams. The winners ranked one and two in the group will pocket tickets to the 2026 World Cup.
While the third and fourth places will be further divided in two groups competing for the first place to appear in the 2026 World Cup.
The draw for the group determination of the Asian zone 2026 World Cup Qualifiers third round will be held on June 27 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. View this post on Instagram
