Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard said losing to Indonesia in Jakarta last year had been the spur to make the changes required to his squad that led them to seal a crucial victory over Patrick Kluivert’s side on Wednesday.
The Saudis moved a step closer to automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup with a 3-2 victory over Indonesia in Jeddah as a new-look side avenged November’s 2-0 defeat to move to the top of Group B of qualifying.
The winners of the three-team group will progress directly to the finals in North America while the second placed finishers will advance to a further round of qualifying.
“We know Indonesia is a good team, so we prepared for this game very well,” said Renard. “We also had revenge to take because we were very bad when we went to their home ground.
“It was our fault, they put us under pressure and we didn’t manage to support the pressure. But it was also after this game I made some very important decisions, so maybe it was a good sign.”
One of Renard’s newest recruits, 23-year-old Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, scored Saudi Arabia’s equaliser on his second international appearance after Kevin Diks had put Indonesia ahead from the penalty spot.
Feras Al-Buraikan scored twice more for the Saudis before another Diks penalty late in the game briefly gave the Indonesians hope of salvaging a point.
Indonesia will next take on Iraq on Saturday before the Saudis face their Gulf neighbours on Tuesday with a World Cup place alongside Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan at stake.
“One World Cup in your football career is something you can’t miss, so everyone wants to go to the World Cup,” said Renard.
“Nobody will give us anything. We will have to fight up to the last second. It won’t be easy, the next game. We know it. It will, maybe, be more difficult but we are going to fight and we know also what we want. This is the most important thing.
“We stay concentrated, focus on ourselves and of course we will watch the game between Indonesia and Iraq. It will also be a tough game. Iraq are a good team, fighting a lot, playing well.
“This group is not finished. We have to do it by ourselves.”
Oman hold hosts Qatar in drab World Cup qualifying stalemate
Oman kept hosts Qatar at bay to earn a 0-0 draw in the countries’ opening clash in Group A of the fourth round of Asia’s World Cup preliminaries on Wednesday, denting both nations’ hopes of automatic qualification for the 2026 finals.
Qatar captain Akram Afif went closest to claiming the points for Julen Lopetegui’s side at Doha’s Jassim bin Hamad Stadium when he wastefully steered his shot wide 49 minutes into a tense game of few chances.
The Carlos Queiroz-coached Omanis, who are looking to qualify for the World Cup for the first time, will face the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in the next game in the three-team group, with Qatar taking on the Emiratis on Tuesday.
The winners of the group will qualify directly for the finals next year in the United States, Canada and Mexico while the team finishing second advances to a playoff with the runner-up from Group B, which is being played in Saudi
Arabia.
Qatar dominated the opening exchanges but struggled to turn that superiority into opportunities, with only midfielder Boualem Khoukhi threatening the Oman goal with a strike from distance in the 13th minute that flew wide of the target.
The Omanis had been largely kept on the back foot, although Issam Al-Sabhi did fashion an opening in the 27th minute that goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada gathered and Amjad Al-Harthi steered a header over the bar late in the half.
Afif should have put the hosts ahead soon after the interval when the Omanis gifted him possession in their own half, but the Asian Player of the Year uncharacteristically side-footed his shot the wrong side of the post.
Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Jordan and Uzbekistan have already claimed six of Asia’s eight guaranteed berths at the expanded 48-team finals, with a possible ninth spot available via an intercontinental playoff in March.
