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