Who: Indonesia vs Saudi Arabia
What: FIFA World Cup AFC qualifiers
Where: Alinma Bank Stadium at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
When: Wednesday, October 8, at 8:15pm (17:15 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 5:15pm (14:15 GMT) advance of our live text commentary stream.
Indonesia face Saudi Arabia as the fourth round of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers for the FIFA 2026 World Cup kick off on Wednesday, with six teams still hoping to book their places at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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The third round of qualifiers were completed in June, with six AFC teams confirming their qualification at that stage. The fourth round is not quite the last-chance saloon, however, with an intercontinental playoff still to come.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the qualifier and how the last teams standing can still progress to global football’s showpiece event next year.
Why is Saudi Arabia staging the match with Indonesia?
Saudi Arabia and Qatar were named in June as the cohosts for the current, and brief, fourth stage of AFC qualifiers.
What is the format for the fourth round of AFC World Cup qualifiers?
The six teams that still have a chance of reaching the FIFA 2026 World Cup have been divided into two groups. Each team will play each other once, with the top team progressing directly to next summer’s tournament.
The teams that finish second will play a two-legged playoff, with the winner progressing to the intercontinental playoffs, which will be the final chance for teams around the globe to join those already qualified.
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What are the fourth qualifying round AFC groups?
- Group A: Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman
- Group B: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia
What are the dates for the fourth round of qualifiers and the playoffs?
The final group stage of AFC qualification for the FIFA 2026 World Cup runs from October 8 to 14, with Indonesia against Saudi Arabia and Oman against Qatar kicking off the process on Wednesday.
The home-and-away playoff matches for the runners-up will be played on November 13 and 18.
What is the full list of fixtures for the fourth round of qualifiers?
Wednesday, October 8:
- Group A: Oman vs Qatar
- Group B: Indonesia vs Saudi Arabia
Saturday, October 11:
- Group A: United Arab Emirates vs Oman
- Group B: Iraq vs Indonesia
Tuesday, October 14:
- Group A: Qatar vs United Arab Emirates
- Group B: Saudi Arabia vs Iraq
How did Indonesia fare in the third round of AFC qualifiers?
Indonesia finished fourth in Group C in the previous round of qualifiers, with Japan and Australia claiming the two automatic qualifying spots and Saudi Arabia finishing third. China and Bahrain were eliminated from the group.
Indonesia narrowly beat China 1-0 in their penultimate, and crucial, third-round match to ensure their place in the fourth round.
How did Saudi Arabia fare in the third round of AFC qualifiers?
Saudi Arabia had the chance to progress automatically for next summer’s World Cup in their final group stage match, but were beaten 2-1 by Australia, who in turn held second spot.
Abdulrahman Al-Obud opened the scoring in the match for Saudi Arabia, who needed an unlikely four-goal winning margin in the game to swing the goal difference in their favour.
What happened the last time Indonesia played Saudi Arabia?
Marselino Ferdinan scored both goals in a 2-0 home win for Indonesia against Saudi Arabia in the second match between the sides in the group.
The return fixture in Saudi Arabia ended in a 1-1 draw in September.
Indonesia must not be intimidated in Saudi Arabia
Patrick Kluivert has urged his Indonesia players not to be intimidated by the hostile atmosphere at a sold-out King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Indonesia are attempting to reach the World Cup for the first time since gaining independence from the Netherlands in 1949.
“I’m not afraid because if you’re afraid, you show your weakness,” said the former Barcelona and Netherlands striker. “If we show weaknesses, that gives the opponent strength.
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“We know the power and the strength of Saudi Arabia, especially when they play at home, but we need to be focused. The mindset is the most important thing, to be calm in warm situations.
“We have to play two finals, so tomorrow is a final. Big expectations, of course. The importance is very high. We are representing a country of 280 million people, and we are ambassadors for the game.
“The most important thing is to be sharp in the match. We live towards this moment, not only us, but everybody backing us up is living for this moment.”
Saudi Arabia ready for revenge against Indonesia
Saudi coach Herve Renard is confident his team can put aside the disappointment of their previous results against the Indonesians to pick up a win that will move the country a step closer to a seventh World Cup appearance.
“I think we have made very good improvements since January, and we continue on our way,” he said.
“We are more confident, I think we are stronger than before. But let’s play, because the reality is on the field.”
Indonesia team news
The Indonesians will go into the game without first-choice goalkeeper Emil Audero and striker Marselino Ferdinan, who scored the goals in November’s win over the Saudis, while fellow forward Ole Romeny is also a doubt.
Saudi Arabia team news
Saudi Arabia will be led in attack by Salem Al-Dawsari, who has scored 25 times for his country.
Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti and Saad Al-Nasser are out with muscle and knee injuries, respectively, while Nawaf Al-Aqidi is a doubt due to a hamstring problem.
Indonesia predicted starting lineup
Argawinata; Ridho, Idzes, Hubner; Sayuri, Haye, Pelupessy, Verdonk; Vikri, Sananta, Kambuaya
Saudi Arabia predicted starting lineup
Al-Aqidi; Al-Amri, Boushal, Al-Tambakti, Al-Harbi; Al-Dawsari, Kanno, Al-Hassan, Ali; Al-Shehri, Al-Buraikan