A 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia helped Indonesia rise to third place in Group C of the third qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup.
The situation in this group is very tense. Except for Japan, which is superior with 16 points, the gap between the remaining teams is not significant. There are 4 teams with 6 points, of which Indonesia has the best goal difference.
The opportunity to finish in the top 4 is still open for Shin Tae-yong and his team.
In Group B, South Korea is leading with 14 points, but is still not safe as it is only 3 points ahead of the second team. The victory over Oman gives Iraq a big advantage in this race. But Jordan and Oman still have a chance with 4 matches left.
South Korea will also need to focus more to quickly win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup under pressure from three representatives from the Middle East.
In Group A, Iran is leading with 16 points, closely followed by Uzbekistan with 13 points. Qatar is having a hard time as it is only in 4th place. It is worth noting that they are the team that has conceded the most goals in the 3rd qualifying round of the Asian region (17 goals), although the results are not bad. That makes Qatar's goal difference very low and it will be more difficult to compete with opponents.
According to the format of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Asia is given more than 8 places, of which: the first 6 official places are given to the 6 teams that finish first and second in the group in the 3rd qualifying round.
The 6 teams ranked 3rd and 4th continue to participate in the 4th qualifying round to compete for 2 official tickets.
