Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Indonesian National Team (Timnas) has officially followed in the footsteps of 17 other national teams to advance to the third Asian Zone 2026 World Cup Qualifiers after successfully winning 2-0 over the Philippines on Tuesday (11/6/2024) evening. How do the FIFA rankings of the 18 countries compare?
The Garuda squad managed to beat the Philippines two goals without reply in the final match of Group F of the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Asia Zone at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Tuesday (11/6/2024). Thanks to goals from Thom Haye and Rizky Ridho, the Red and White Team succeeded in maintaining the runner-up position in Group F while also holding onto a ticket to the third round with a record of 10 points from six matches.
Indonesia is the only Southeast Asian (ASEAN) country to qualify for the third round, aka one step closer to the 2026 World Cup. Vietnam and Thailand, which “subscribed” to qualify, actually fell in the second round.
The journey for Shin Tae-yong's children to compete in the 2026 World Cup in the United States (US), Mexico and Canada will not be easy. Because, the third round of the Asian Zone is inhabited by a series of strong and superior national teams in terms of FIFA rankings.
For your information, the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifications in the Asia Zone was attended by 18 national teams who were the champions and runners-up in the second round group. Later, the 18 national teams will be divided into three groups, each consisting of six countries.
Before being divided into three groups, the 18 national teams were divided into six pots determined by the FIFA rankings of each country and then drawn. Currently, Indonesia is in the third round of six drawing pots. The following is the distribution of the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Asia Zone pot drawing.
Pot 1: Japan, Iran, South Korea
Pot 2: Australia, Qatar, Iraq
Pot 3: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Jordan
Pot 4: United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain
Pot 5: China, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan
Pot 6: North Korea, Indonesia, Kuwait
Based on FIFA data up to April 4 2024, the Japanese national team is ranked first in FIFA in Asia and 18th in the world with 1621.88 points. Meanwhile, Kuwait, which is in pot six, is ranked 139th in FIFA with a record of 1085.46 points.
According to FIFA records, Indonesia is the national team that has experienced the most significant increase in ranking. In fact, the Garuda squad was called the “biggest climber” thanks to climbing eight places and achieving an additional 30.04 points.
Currently, Indonesia is ranked 134th in FIFA with a total of 1102.7 points. When compared, Indonesia is the third strongest country in Southeast Asia. Indonesia only lost in ranking to Thailand (101) and Vietnam (115). Meanwhile, Malaysia dropped four places below Indonesia, namely 138.
In detail, the following is a comparison of Indonesia's FIFA ranking when compared with the 17 countries participating in the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifications in the Asian Zone.
1. Japan (18th place – 1621.88 points)
2. Iran (20th place – 1613.96ko points)
3. South Korea (23rd place – 1563.99 points)
4. Australia (24th place – 1563.93 points)
5. Qatar (34th place – 1507.94 points)
6. Iraq (58th place – 1420.47 points)
7. Saudi Arabia (53rd place – 1443.53 points)
8. Uzbekistan (64th place – 1386.58 points)
9. Jordan (71st place – 1350.21 points)
10. United Arab Emirates (67th place – 1366.45 points)
11. Oman (77th place – 1323.23 points)
12. Bahrain (80th place – 1307.53 points)
13. China (88th place – 1275.22 points)
14. Palestine (93rd place – 1238.66 points)
15. Kyrgyzstan (100th place – 1213.6 points)
16. North Korea (118th place – 1160.57 points)
17. Indonesia (Rank 134 – 1102.7 points)
18. Kuwait (139th place – 1085.46 points)
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