Bahrain vs Indonesia

In a match that is vital to their chances of making it to the 2026 World Cup, Bahrain and Indonesia will play each other on Thursday.

With a victory in Riffa, one of these countries, now ranked third and fourth in Group B in the third round of AFC qualifying, can move one step closer to securing at least a fourth-round berth.

The expansion of the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams has left countries like Bahrain and Indonesia to hope that they would be able to compete for a place on the grandest platform.

With Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Japan in their group, these two teams may have had an easier assignment, but now they face a much more difficult one.

However, this six-nation group has been rocked by Bahrain's 1-0 victory in Australia, which sent shockwaves around the Gold Coast. Australia has now lost two games.

Bahrain fell 5-0 at home to Japan in their second match, but it's still probably a dream situation to be in third place after two games, with home games against China and Indonesia to follow in their next three games.

Dragan Talajic's team will still be in the running for a top-four berth, which would ensure advancement to the next round, if they win that doubleheader by at least three points.

Bahrain has only lost twice in their last nine games in all competitions, and both times it was against Japan.

With just one loss in their last meetings across all competitions, opponents Indonesia are likewise playing well.

They replied by drawing with countries like Saudi Arabia and Australia in this group after that visit to Iraq in June.

Maintaining a clean sheet in the latter would have signaled to their group rivals that Shin Tae-yong's team is capable of continuing to play in this qualifying round.