Indonesia Finally Made It To Asian Cup After 16 Years

On the final night of qualifying on Tuesday (June 14), Indonesia humiliated Nepal 7-0 and Jordan beat former champions Kuwait 3-0 to reach the final of next year's expanded 24-team Asian Cup . In Kuwait City's final game, Jordan emerged as Group A winners with three second-half goals, while Indonesia beat the Philippines as the last of the top five runners-up. Winger Witan Sulaeman scored twice to help Indonesia secure their last qualifying spot against Nepal, who were reduced to 10 men when Suman Aryal was sent off for a second yellow card just over half an hour later. Indonesia, already 1-0 up, doubled their lead before half-time and scored five more goals after the break, their first appearance in the continental championship since co-hosting in 2007.

 Malaysia, also co-hosts in 2007, have not advanced from qualifying since 1980, but a 4-1 win over Bangladesh in Kuala Lumpur put them behind Group E champions Bahrain, who beat Turkmenistan 1-0 Stan gets the top spot. The inaugural 24-team Asian Cup will be held at a venue determined after China withdrew from hosting the competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bahrain and Malaysia, along with Group B champions Palestine, advanced to the finals along with Uzbekistan, Thailand, India, Hong Kong, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Defending champions Qatar, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Syria, Australia, Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, China, Oman, Vietnam and Lebanon have reserved seats.

The Indian team beat Hong Kong 4-0 and won the first place in Group D, and the Hong Kong team also rose to the second place. Before Sunil Chetri scored his 84th international goal in first-half injury time, Anwar Ali netted in the first minute to give Igor Stiemark's India the lead. Late goals from substitutes Manwell Singh and Ishan Pandita completed the defeat. Palestine secured first place in Group B with a 4-0 win over the Philippines on Tuesday, while Uzbekistan beat second-placed Thailand 2-0 to secure their place at the top of Group C. Tajikistan tops Group F, advancing after a 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek.