The Indonesian team will travel to China by private jet with the goal of winning the first 3 points in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.
The Indonesian team was held to a 2-2 draw by Bahrain in the match that took place on the evening of October 10. Coach Shin Tae-yong’s players played very well despite being away, leading 2-1 for most of the second half. Unfortunately, in the final seconds of extra time, goalkeeper Maarten Paes had to pick the ball out of the net after Mohamed Marhoon’s tap-in. This is the third consecutive draw for the Indonesian team in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. The Southeast Asian representative is currently ranked 5th in Group C with 3 points, 1 point behind the 3 teams above them, Bahrain, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. The Japanese team is the leading team in this group with 3 wins, 9 points. Coach Shin Tae-yong expressed disappointment when the team only got 1 point: “Both teams played their best until the referee blew the whistle to end the match. However, I still have to mention some shameful things, in this case the refereeing decisions. If the AFC wants to develop, decisions like this match must change. Anyone who watched this match will understand why our players were angry. The refereeing decisions were wrong.
Coach Shin Tae-yong criticizes referee for causing Indonesia to lose points
After a painful draw with Bahrain, the Indonesian team will visit the Qingdao Youth Football Stadium of the Chinese team. This is also the last match in the FIFA Days series in October for the Indonesian team. The Chinese team is currently at the bottom of Group C, having lost all three matches, so coach Shin Tae-yong confidently aims to win 3 points to improve his position. Before leaving Bahrain, striker Marselino Ferdinan expressed his determination: “Indonesia will leave China with 3 points in hand, I am sure of that.”
The match between the Indonesian team and China will take place at 7:00 p.m. on October 15. According to calculations by the Bola Times, coach Shin Tae-yong and his team will be physically affected as the distance from Riffa City (Bahrain) – where the Indonesian team just finished their first match – to Qingdao (China) is 6,599 km. This distance is quite far, especially because Qingdao is not the capital, so the Indonesian team has to transfer flights many times.
However, to solve this problem, the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) decided to use a private plane, taking coach Shin Tae-yong and his team directly to Qingdao. The Indonesian team will have more time to travel and will not have to go through any transits.
PSSI President Erick Thohir encouraged the Indonesian team: “I ask everyone in the Indonesian national team, including the players, coaching staff, and officials, to focus on the next match with China. Let’s prove that we deserve more than 1 point even though we have to play on the opponent’s field. I also hope that the fans will continue and continuously support the Indonesian national team players.”
Indonesian team will have direct flight to China
The Chinese team had to travel a longer distance than the visiting Indonesian team.
Notably, PSSI has just made the distance that the Indonesian team traveled to Qingdao shorter than the distance that the host China had to travel. Before returning home, the Chinese team had a match against Australia in Adelaide (10.10, the Chinese team lost 1-3). The distance from Adelaide to Qingdao is 8,112 km, which is 1,500 km further than the distance that the Indonesian team traveled. According to Xinhua, the reason the Chinese team had to go through such a long journey was because the players had poor results, causing coach Branko Ivankovic’s team to be cut many standards.
