In the FIFA Series 2026 final match held on the evening of March 30th at Bung Karno Stadium, the host Indonesia lost to Bulgaria with a score of 0-1, after a match full of effort but unlucky.
Right after the opening whistle, Indonesia entered the game proactively and soon created the first opportunity in the 6th minute. Sananta quickly stole the ball in front of the penalty area, but his shot could not beat the Bulgarian defense. The home team continued to put pressure with attacks on both wings, but the final handling situations were still inaccurate.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria played defensively and waited for counter-attack opportunities. The turning point of the match came in the 35th minute when the referee consulted VAR and determined that Diks fouled in the penalty area. From the 11m spot, Petkov made no mistake, scoring the opening goal 1-0 for the European representative in the 38th minute.
Conceding a goal, Indonesia tried to push up the squad in the second half. However, the combinations still lacked sharpness. The away team almost doubled the gap in the 58th minute when goalkeeper Paes did not handle well, but the Indonesian defender managed to clear the ball right on the goal line.
Drama was pushed to a higher level in the final minutes. In the 72nd minute, Romeny broke the offside trap, performed a technical lob over the goalkeeper's head but the ball hit the crossbar. In the 86th minute, bad luck continued to haunt Indonesia when Ridho's shot also hit the crossbar.
In the end, Indonesia accepted a 0-1 defeat to Bulgaria, thereby missing the opportunity to be crowned champion right at home. However, the performance of the archipelago team still showed many positive signs, especially the fighting spirit and the ability to create opportunities against the higher-rated opponent.
FIFA Series 2026 is a friendly tournament organized by the World Football Federation, gathering teams from many continents. In the leg in Indonesia, four participating teams include Indonesia, Bulgaria, Solomon Islands and Saint Kitts & Nevis.
