Get to Know the 5 Indonesian National Team's Opponents in the 4th Round of World Cup Qualifiers

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian national team will fight in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone. The Garuda team will compete with five other countries to vie for two tickets to the final round.

Reported from the official AFC website, the five countries are the United Arab Emirates and Qatar representing Group A, Iraq and Oman from Group B, and Saudi Arabia from Group C.

According to reports from some sources, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are rumored to be the hosts of the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone. However, there has been no official announcement from the AFC regarding this matter.

The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers matches in the Asian zone fourth round are scheduled to be held in October. The six participants will be divided into two groups, with the top finishers of each group automatically qualifying. The second-placed teams will compete for a spot in the intercontinental play-offs, and the group drawing process will take place on July 17, 2025.

Here are the profiles of the prospective countries to compete against Indonesia in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone:

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates has previously participated in the World Cup once, in the 1990 edition held in Italy, where they only managed to reach the group stage.

The United Arab Emirates secured a spot in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone after finishing third in the final standings of Group A in the third round with 15 points from 10 matches, consisting of four wins, three draws, and three losses.

Under the guidance of coach Cosmin Olaroiu, the squad relies on Brazilian naturalized forward Fabio Lima, who scored five goals in six matches in Group A of the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone.

Qatar

Next is Qatar, which has participated in the World Cup once, in the 2022 edition when they acted as the host, although they only managed to reach the group stage.

Qatar advanced to the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone after finishing fourth in the final standings of Group A in the third round with 13 points from 10 matches, comprising of four wins, one draw, and five losses.

The Maroons squad will certainly once again rely on the sharp striking duo of Akram Afif and Almoez Ali, who have collectively scored 100 goals while representing the Qatar national team.

Iraq

After that, there is the representative from Group B, Iraq, which has competed in the World Cup once, during the 1986 edition held in Mexico, where they only managed to reach the group stage.

Iraq finished third in the final standings of Group B in the third round with 15 points from 10 matches, consisting of four wins, three draws, and three losses.

The Lions of Mesopotamia can be said to have many promising players such as young midfielder Ali Jasim and sharp striker Aymen Hussein.

Oman

Furthermore, Oman is also a representative from Group B to compete in the fourth round and has never experienced participating in the final round of the World Cup.

Coach Rashid Jaber managed to guide Oman to qualify for the fourth round after finishing fourth in the final standings of Group B in the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian zone with 11 points from three wins, two draws, and five losses.

Oman is expected to once again rely on Muhsen Al-Ghassani, a striker from Thai League club Bangkok United, who has scored 16 goals in 67 appearances while representing Oman.

Saudi Arabia

Lastly, there is Saudi Arabia, which will compete in the fourth round of the qualifiers and has participated in the World Cup six times in the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, and 2022 editions. Their best achievement was in the 1994 edition when they made it to the round of 16.

Saudi Arabia had to settle for third place in the final standings of Group C in the third round with 13 points from 10 matches, comprising of three wins, four draws, and three losses.

The Green Falcons will certainly once again rely on several players like experienced midfielder Salem Al-Dawsari and young talent, AS Roma wing-back Saud Abdulhamid.

Editor's Choice: 2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Asia Zone Fourth Round Schedule and Pot Breakdown

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