Indonesian team suffers double loss after World Cup dream shattered

At the beginning of the year, when Indonesia was ranked 127th in the FIFA rankings, President of the Indonesian Football Federation Erick Thohir talked about the goal of entering the world's top 50 in the future. In the latest FIFA rankings, Tim Garuda climbed to 119th place, above Malaysia (123) and close to Vietnam (114). It seems they are on the right track.

However, two consecutive defeats in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers round 4 have ruined Indonesia’s progress. They lost 6.68 points after a 2-3 defeat to Saudi Arabia, and another 6.53 points when they lost to Iraq in a dominant but scoreless match. With 13.21 points lost, Indonesia dropped four places, falling to 123rd in the world and swapping places with Malaysia.

Defeating Laos 3-0 in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, Malaysia gained 6.77 points to move up four places to 119th. The Malayan Tigers can earn a maximum of 6.53 points in the rematch against Laos on October 14 and are likely to move up to 118th place.

This month, Vietnam has gained 6.98 points after winning 3-1 against Nepal. However, we only have a chance to improve our ranking if we continue to beat Nepal in the match on October 14 and collect the maximum 6.72 points. In a positive scenario, Vietnam can move up to 112th place if the team above Lebanon does not win against Bhutan.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand are currently the top team at 101st. Their recent 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei has helped them break into the world top 100, moving up to 98th, and will consolidate their position if they beat Chinese Taipei again midweek.