The Bahrain national team was reminded by its former players about how important it is to win against the Indonesian national team. This will be the key to qualifying for the final round.
The Bahrain national team visited Indonesia in the eighth match of Group C in the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian Zone. The match was held at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta, Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
The match was very crucial considering that both teams had just suffered defeat in the seventh match. The Indonesian national team was destroyed by the Australian national team (1-5), while Bahrain was defeated by the Japanese national team (0-2).
Both teams have now been knocked out of the top three in the standings. The Indonesian national team is in fourth place with a collection of six points, Bahrain is in fifth place with the same collection of points.
They are threatened with being out of the competition to qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup. Because it is known, only the top two teams at the end of the standings are entitled to qualify directly for the four-yearly tournament.
Therefore, Hisham Al-Mahouzi reminded the importance of winning against the Indonesian national team. The Malkiya Club coach said that The Reds must be able to play with high confidence despite being the away team.
“For our national team’s match against Indonesia, it is the key to qualifying,” Al-Mahouzi was quoted as saying by Akhbar Alkhaleej, Saturday (3/22/2025).
“We have to follow the same path as we took in the match against Japan and face it realistically,” added the man from Bahrain.
“Winning it will be a big step forward. We rely on the experience of our players, because they are very confident,” said Al-Mahouzi.
Furthermore, Al-Mahouzi admitted that he was still doubtful about the Bahrain National Team’s chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. He found it difficult to predict which team would follow Japan considering the tight competition in Group C.
“Group C has complicated calculations and the results are very tight. All teams still have a chance to qualify directly,” said Al-Mahouzi.
“And they also have a second chance to go to the play-offs if they can’t qualify directly for the World Cup. I hope our team can qualify with the second ticket,” he concluded.
