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Who will emerge from the tightest group in AFC World Cup qualifiers?
euronews (in English)
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20/03/2025
In the Asian Confederation, only one point separates five Group C teams from elimination or automatic qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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00:00
With four matches remaining in World Cup qualifying for the Asian Confederation,
00:05
who will emerge from the tightest group so far?
00:08
At this stage, just one point separates five countries in Group C
00:13
from automatic qualification or elimination.
00:21
Hello and welcome to Football Now, here from the Albeit Stadium in Qatar.
00:27
Qualification for the 2026 World Cup gets back underway this week
00:32
and all eyes will be on Asia.
00:35
Australia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Bahrain and China
00:40
are all locked in an intense battle to try and secure
00:43
the final automatic qualification spot behind runaway group leaders Japan.
00:48
So let's take a look at the situation in Group C.
00:53
At the bottom of the table is Bahrain,
00:55
along with China who are paying the price for a heavy 7-0 loss to Japan.
01:00
Indonesia are in third place, just ahead of Saudi Arabia on a count of goals scored.
01:06
Saudi Arabia and Australia were the expected challengers to Japan for first place in Group C.
01:12
In contrast, both sides have only managed solitary wins against China so far.
01:17
Following the underperformance in the first two matches,
01:21
Australian manager Graham Arnold resigned from his post.
01:25
Replacing him at the helm is ex-Socceroos defender Tony Popovich.
01:29
We spoke to former teammate Tim Cahill about what he will bring to the side
01:33
as they look to secure automatic qualification.
01:37
I think Australia have a big opportunity to qualify automatically.
01:41
I think they've got a good enough squad.
01:43
Great manager in Popovich and the staff, I know him really well as a player
01:46
but also I know he's very disciplined.
01:48
I think they shouldn't look too far and that's a good thing with Popovich.
01:51
I think he'll have them well drilled and he'll understand how big the task is against Indonesia
01:55
so they have to get a result against Indonesia really at home.
01:58
They're a top team, Patrick Kluivert's first game,
02:01
but I don't think they should think too far.
02:03
I think they should just focus on that game and then let's see how they go from there.
02:06
Indonesia were 133rd in FIFA's World Rankings when the qualification campaign got underway,
02:14
making them by far, on paper, the weakest team in the group.
02:18
However, a strategy of naturalising European players with Indonesian heritage
02:23
led to impressive results on the field,
02:26
but was also the final nail in the coffin for manager Shin Tae-yong,
02:30
who was pushed aside to make way for Dutch coach Patrick Kluivert.
02:35
They've made an incredibly brave decision to part ways with Shin Tae-yong at this point
02:42
because he has them on the cusp of qualifying
02:44
and to toy with that so close to the end when it's on the horizon
02:49
seems in some way incredibly reckless, in some ways incredibly brave
02:55
because it's true that given the naturalisation program that they've had,
02:59
the team that they are now is not the team that Shin Tae-yong started with
03:04
and there's enormous pressure on them now to deliver
03:07
because to make a change like this, you are doing it to get results.
03:11
So if there was pressure on them before, there's even greater pressure on them now
03:16
because if you don't qualify for the World Cup,
03:18
Indonesian fans are going to let them know what they think about it.
03:21
Another manager who paid the price for poor results was big-name coach Roberto Mancini.
03:26
He lost his job with Saudi Arabia, who have now returned to a familiar face
03:31
to try and lead them back to the World Cup.
03:34
Frenchman Herve Renard was in charge back in 2022
03:38
when he masterminded their famous World Cup win over eventual champions Argentina
03:43
right here in Qatar.
03:45
So how important is it that Saudi qualify for this tournament
03:49
ahead of hosting the 2034 edition?
03:52
I think so expectation-wise, they had a lot of pressure on the shoulders coming into this group
03:57
and I think this is where Herve Renard will be very good for Saudi Arabia coming back in
04:02
because in the past he's typically focused on having a solid defence
04:06
and I think if he can really jump back to that
04:10
and focus on the defence more so than the attack,
04:13
then that could elevate their player gain.
04:16
The problem is with all of that pressure,
04:18
sometimes you can either strive and move forward
04:22
or it can knock you down because the pressure is too much.
04:26
You can just really see the broader picture and the build-up to 2034,
04:31
obviously, as well as 2026.
04:33
But gaining that qualification for this World Cup, it's very, very important.
04:37
Currently at fifth in the table, Bahrain dropped crucial points in the last international window
04:43
and although they sit bottom, China hold the advantage
04:46
of having already played group leaders Japan twice.
04:49
So can either of these teams make the leap into the automatic qualification spots
04:54
or is time running out for both Bahrain and China?
04:59
I think every nation aside from Japan has a window that they'll look back on
05:04
and think, what if?
05:05
For Bahrain, it was these last two games as well,
05:09
that they'll look back on and think, what if?
05:11
Because they're going to take a draw against China,
05:15
they're going to take a win against Australia.
05:17
Imagine they have those extra four points on the board,
05:20
China, they're the team that's won the most games
05:22
and yet they find themselves last in the group.
05:25
Can they take that second spot?
05:27
Can they even get into the top four?
05:29
I still think it's unlikely because they've still largely been unimpressive.
05:34
As I said, I think every team has had a window that they've looked back on
05:38
and think, what if we didn't let those points slip?
05:42
The race could not be tighter
05:44
and every point really does matter in Group C.
05:47
So who do you think will make it out of the AFC World Cup qualifiers?
05:52
Let us know using the hashtag
05:54
Football Now Asian Qualifying.
05:56
That's all we've got time for though this week.
05:59
We'll see you next time. Bye for now.
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