2026 World Cup Qualifier Controversy: AFC Changes Time for Indonesia, Iraq Objects

The Iraqi Football Association (IFA) has just sent a letter of protest to the AFC, asking the Asian football body to change the match time of the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in a fair manner for all teams, instead of just giving priority to the Indonesian team.

Why is the match time changed only for the Indonesian team?

The President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI), Mr. Erick Thohir, said that the schedule of the Indonesian team in Group B of the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia against Saudi Arabia and Iraq on October 8 and 11 with very close match times, did not give the players enough time to recover and suggested that the AFC change it on July 24.

Indonesia team receives high expectations in the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia

Photo: Reuters

The AFC immediately decided to change the match times of the Indonesian team. Accordingly, the new match schedule was confirmed as the Indonesian team's opening match against Saudi Arabia will take place at 00:15 on October 9; and against the Iraqi team at 2:30 on October 12 (both Vietnam time). These matches will all take place at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).

In addition, at the request of PSSI President Erick Thohir, AFC will also not arrange any referees from the West Asia region to officiate the matches between Indonesia and Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

IFA strongly objected because they believed that AFC was biased towards their opponents. They believed that AFC's change of the Indonesian team's match time compared to the original schedule was unfair, affecting the Iraqi team when they played 2 consecutive matches later against Indonesia (2:30 a.m. on October 12) and Saudi Arabia (also 2:30 a.m. on October 15, both Vietnam time), because they would have less recovery time than previously planned.

According to the original schedule, after the Indonesian team played their first match against Saudi Arabia (0:15 on October 9), they would continue to play against the Iraqi team at 18:00 (local time) on October 11 (around 22:00 on the same day, Vietnam time). This prompted PSSI President Erick Thohir to propose that the AFC change the match so that the Indonesian team would have a little more time for the players to recover, from 18:00 local time to 22:30 (2:30 the next morning, Vietnam time).

Although only a few hours apart, because both Indonesia and Iraq are scheduled to play two consecutive matches with a very tight schedule of only 3 days/match, they have to make use of every precious time to let the players recover. Meanwhile, the host team Saudi Arabia plays the first match and the second match with a 6-day break.

The fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia will not take place until October, but it is already hot right now.

Photo: Reuters

"Regarding the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, the IFA objects to the AFC's recent adjustment of the match time between Iraq and Indonesia. The initial decision was 6 p.m. (local time), which is also unreasonable. Changing it to 10:30 p.m. is also unreasonable, as it also affects our next match with Saudi Arabia.

We propose and offer the best solution, and also ensure fairness for all, that the AFC needs to unify the match time between Iraq and Indonesia on October 11 at 8:00 p.m. (local time, ie 0:00 a.m. the next day, Vietnam time)," IFA President Adnan Dirjal expressed in an interview with Winwin (Saudi Arabia) on July 26.

In response to this reaction from IFA, AFC has not yet responded. Meanwhile, PSSI has not yet spoken out. According to CNN Indonesia, IFA is hoping that AFC will change the match time as they wish. Thereby, this agency will also promote the preparation of at least 1 friendly match for the home team (on October 5), about 6 days before entering the match against Indonesia in the fourth qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup.

The fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia will take place from October 8 to 14. The top two teams in each group will win the remaining two official tickets from Asia to the 2026 World Cup. The two runners-up will play two play-off matches on November 13 and 18, with the winning team entering the intercontinental play-off round (6 teams) to compete for two play-off tickets in March 2026.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tranh-cai-vong-loai-world-cup-2026-afc-doi-gio-cho-doi-indonesia-iraq-phan-doi-185250726111817448.htm