JEDDAH: Iraq sealed a 1-0 victory over Indonesia in Jeddah on Saturday to maintain their hopes of a first World Cup appearance since 1986 as Zidane Iqbal’s second-half strike eliminated Patrick Kluivert’s side from Asia’s qualifiers for next year’s finals.

Former Manchester United midfielder Iqbal, who currently plays his club football for Utrecht, netted with 14 minutes remaining after coming off the bench at the start of the second half for Graham Arnold’s team.

The result means Iraq will face Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with the winners of the tie qualifying for the World Cup while the runners-up advance to another round of preliminaries. Indonesia, meanwhile, have been eliminated after two losses.

“We knew it would be a tough game with the temperature and everything but this 1-0 victory will give us a lot of confidence,” said Iqbal. “It will be a tough game against Saudi Arabia but hopefully we will win.”

A mistake by Rizky Ridho proved costly for the Indonesians as the defender gifted Iraq possession and the ball eventually ended up at the feet of Iqbal, who slotted a perfect finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Tempers flared as the final whistle approached, with Indonesia captain Jay Idzes acting as peacemaker when his side’s fans pelted the pitch with water bottles in disgust at a disputed decision by referee Ma Ning from China.

Zaid Tahseen was sent off for a second bookable offence nine minutes into stoppage time but Iraq held on to maintain their hopes of joining Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan as Asia’s representatives at next year’s finals.

Crestfallen Indonesia coach Patrick Kluivert said his players were “devastated” after their pursuit of a place at next year’s World Cup came to an end.

“I think if you look at the game we were by far the better team,” said Kluivert. “I’m very disappointed about the result and not only me but the whole country, the players, the staff.

“We worked hard, playing against Saudi and then three days later, it was a great recovery to play another tough game. We performed fantastic.

“I’m very proud of the players, who showed their heart, their courage but unfortunately the result again was not on our side while creating chances and playing very good football. With one action you lose the game. We are devastated.”

UAE EDGE CLOSER

The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, gave themselves the opportunity to end the country’s 36-year wait for their second World Cup appearance as they came from a goal down to beat Oman 2-1 in Doha.

The Emiratis, who last appeared at a World Cup in 1990, were made to work for their win, when late goals from Marcus Meloni and Caio Lucas sealed the three points at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

The UAE now sit top of Group ‘A’ heading into the final round of matches on Tuesday, when victory against at Qatar would secure a World Cup berth.

Oman took the lead on 12 minutes when Amjad Al Harthi fired home from Majed Hassan’s cross, which took a wicked deflection off Kouadio Kouame before settling in the back of the net.

However the UAE reacted deep into the second half, when substitute Ali Saleh whipped in a pinpoint cross for Meloni to finish with a thumping header past Ibrahim Al Mukhaini.

Not long after, substitute Lucas sent in a cross that evaded everyone and ended up in the UAE net, which shifted the balance in the hosts’ favour.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2025