Who will emerge from the tightest group in AFC World Cup qualifiers?

euronews (in English)

In the Asian Confederation, only one point separates five Group C teams from elimination or automatic qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Transcript

00:00With four matches remaining in World Cup qualifying for the Asian Confederation,

00:05who will emerge from the tightest group so far?

00:08At this stage, just one point separates five countries in Group C

00:13from automatic qualification or elimination.

00:21Hello and welcome to Football Now, here from the Albeit Stadium in Qatar.

00:27Qualification for the 2026 World Cup gets back underway this week

00:32and all eyes will be on Asia.

00:35Australia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Bahrain and China

00:40are all locked in an intense battle to try and secure

00:43the final automatic qualification spot behind runaway group leaders Japan.

00:48So let's take a look at the situation in Group C.

00:53At the bottom of the table is Bahrain,

00:55along with China who are paying the price for a heavy 7-0 loss to Japan.

01:00Indonesia are in third place, just ahead of Saudi Arabia on a count of goals scored.

01:06Saudi Arabia and Australia were the expected challengers to Japan for first place in Group C.

01:12In contrast, both sides have only managed solitary wins against China so far.

01:17Following the underperformance in the first two matches,

01:21Australian manager Graham Arnold resigned from his post.

01:25Replacing him at the helm is ex-Socceroos defender Tony Popovich.

01:29We spoke to former teammate Tim Cahill about what he will bring to the side

01:33as they look to secure automatic qualification.

01:37I think Australia have a big opportunity to qualify automatically.

01:41I think they've got a good enough squad.

01:43Great manager in Popovich and the staff, I know him really well as a player

01:46but also I know he's very disciplined.

01:48I think they shouldn't look too far and that's a good thing with Popovich.

01:51I think he'll have them well drilled and he'll understand how big the task is against Indonesia

01:55so they have to get a result against Indonesia really at home.

01:58They're a top team, Patrick Kluivert's first game,

02:01but I don't think they should think too far.

02:03I think they should just focus on that game and then let's see how they go from there.

02:06Indonesia were 133rd in FIFA's World Rankings when the qualification campaign got underway,

02:14making them by far, on paper, the weakest team in the group.

02:18However, a strategy of naturalising European players with Indonesian heritage

02:23led to impressive results on the field,

02:26but was also the final nail in the coffin for manager Shin Tae-yong,

02:30who was pushed aside to make way for Dutch coach Patrick Kluivert.

02:35They've made an incredibly brave decision to part ways with Shin Tae-yong at this point

02:42because he has them on the cusp of qualifying

02:44and to toy with that so close to the end when it's on the horizon

02:49seems in some way incredibly reckless, in some ways incredibly brave

02:55because it's true that given the naturalisation program that they've had,

02:59the team that they are now is not the team that Shin Tae-yong started with

03:04and there's enormous pressure on them now to deliver

03:07because to make a change like this, you are doing it to get results.

03:11So if there was pressure on them before, there's even greater pressure on them now

03:16because if you don't qualify for the World Cup,

03:18Indonesian fans are going to let them know what they think about it.

03:21Another manager who paid the price for poor results was big-name coach Roberto Mancini.

03:26He lost his job with Saudi Arabia, who have now returned to a familiar face

03:31to try and lead them back to the World Cup.

03:34Frenchman Herve Renard was in charge back in 2022

03:38when he masterminded their famous World Cup win over eventual champions Argentina

03:43right here in Qatar.

03:45So how important is it that Saudi qualify for this tournament

03:49ahead of hosting the 2034 edition?

03:52I think so expectation-wise, they had a lot of pressure on the shoulders coming into this group

03:57and I think this is where Herve Renard will be very good for Saudi Arabia coming back in

04:02because in the past he's typically focused on having a solid defence

04:06and I think if he can really jump back to that

04:10and focus on the defence more so than the attack,

04:13then that could elevate their player gain.

04:16The problem is with all of that pressure,

04:18sometimes you can either strive and move forward

04:22or it can knock you down because the pressure is too much.

04:26You can just really see the broader picture and the build-up to 2034,

04:31obviously, as well as 2026.

04:33But gaining that qualification for this World Cup, it's very, very important.

04:37Currently at fifth in the table, Bahrain dropped crucial points in the last international window

04:43and although they sit bottom, China hold the advantage

04:46of having already played group leaders Japan twice.

04:49So can either of these teams make the leap into the automatic qualification spots

04:54or is time running out for both Bahrain and China?

04:59I think every nation aside from Japan has a window that they'll look back on

05:04and think, what if?

05:05For Bahrain, it was these last two games as well,

05:09that they'll look back on and think, what if?

05:11Because they're going to take a draw against China,

05:15they're going to take a win against Australia.

05:17Imagine they have those extra four points on the board,

05:20China, they're the team that's won the most games

05:22and yet they find themselves last in the group.

05:25Can they take that second spot?

05:27Can they even get into the top four?

05:29I still think it's unlikely because they've still largely been unimpressive.

05:34As I said, I think every team has had a window that they've looked back on

05:38and think, what if we didn't let those points slip?

05:42The race could not be tighter

05:44and every point really does matter in Group C.

05:47So who do you think will make it out of the AFC World Cup qualifiers?

05:52Let us know using the hashtag

05:54Football Now Asian Qualifying.

05:56That's all we've got time for though this week.

05:59We'll see you next time. Bye for now.

Category

Transcript

Recommended