Indonesia and China will face each other in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia. This match is highly anticipated as the two teams are performing in contrasting ways.
Indonesia have gone undefeated in all three matches against Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bahrain. With naturalised Dutch stars Maarten Paes, Jay Idzes, Thom Haye and Ragnar Oratmangoen, the team has shown rapid progress.
On the other hand, a series of naturalized Chinese players have not yet brought about results. The Chinese team has lost all matches and is currently at the bottom of Group C, disappointing fans.
With the addition of naturalized players, according to statistics from the transfer website Transfermarkt, the Indonesian team is currently worth 26.5 million euros. The most valuable of these is center-back Mees Hilgers (10 million euros). This figure is many times higher than the Chinese team, whose total squad value is only 10.2 million euros.
The last time the two teams met was in 2013 in the Asian Cup Qualifiers. Indonesia lost 0-1. The last time Indonesia won against China was in 1987, which is 37 years ago (3-1).
With current form, Indonesia can confidently compete on par with China. Even if they improve their finishing, winning is not too difficult.
Score prediction: China 1-1 Indonesia
