TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's national team is set to face China in the ninth match of the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers for Group C at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium on June 5, 2025. This match is crucial for the Garuda squad, which aims to finish in the top four of the group to advance to the fourth round.
The Garuda squad currently sits in fourth place in Group C standings after a 1-0 victory over Bahrain at the GBK Stadium on March 25. Indonesia has collected 9 points, trailing behind Japan (20 points), Australia (13 points), and Saudi Arabia (10 points). The team, under the guidance of Patrick Kluivert, leads Bahrain and China by three points.
The last two matches of Group C, hosting China and visiting Japan five days later, will be decisive for Jay Idzes and his teammates to secure a spot in the fourth round, considering there is only one remaining automatic spot for the 2026 World Cup, which will be challenging to achieve. Japan has already secured a spot from this group.
Indonesia hopes to finish in third or fourth place in Group C to remain competitive for a spot in the 2026 World Cup. The Garuda squad will be able to advance to the fourth round if they can win the match against China.
In their previous encounter at China's home ground in the fourth round on October 15 last year, Indonesia, then under the guidance of Shin Tae-yong, suffered a 2-1 defeat. Jay Idzes and his teammates conceded two goals in the first half and only managed to score a goal to narrow the gap four minutes before the end of normal time through Thom Haye.
Currently, Indonesia's national team is preparing to host China. Kluivert has called up 32 players for a training camp in Bali, which the Dutch coach will eventually trim down to 23 players.
On the other hand, Branko Ivankovic has called up 27 of his key players to face Indonesia. From the list of names, at least four of them are enough of a threat that the Garuda squad must watch out for.
Zhang Yuning
This key forward of China's national team previously scored a goal against the Indonesian national team in their first meeting in Qingdao. At 28 years old, he currently plays for BJ Guoan. Previously, he played for the English second division club, West Bromwich Albion.
According to Transfermarkt, he has been playing for the senior national team since 2016 with 40 appearances and 7 goals. During his time with the U-19 team, he scored 13 goals in 11 appearances.
Serginho
This 30-year-old player acts as an attacking midfielder and also plays for BJ Guoan. He was born in Monte Aprazivel, Brazil. While playing in the Chinese League, he has scored three goals and provided two assists in 10 appearances.
Wang Shangyuan
This 31-year-old defensive midfielder of HN FC made his debut with China's national team on December 10, 2019. To date, Wang has made 26 appearances, scoring one goal and providing two assists. He played the full 90 minutes when China defeated Indonesia's national team 2-1 in their last encounter, last October.
Yang Mingyang
This player, born in Basel, Switzerland, plays as a defensive midfielder. At the age of 29, he currently plays for the first division club CD Rongcheng in the Chinese League. Previously, he played for the English first division club, Wolves.
Although he has never played for China, despite previously representing Switzerland at the U-15, U-16, U-18, U-19, and U-20 levels, with the last being in 2014, his name is already in the Dragon Team's midfield for the upcoming matches against Indonesia and Bahrain in June.
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