AFC World Cup qualifiers: Saudi Arabia suffer shock defeat in Indonesia, Japan ease past China

Herve Renard's Green Falcons have work to do in Group C after poor run of results

Marselino Ferdinan of Indonesia, centre, celebrates after opening the scoring against Saudi Arabia in Jakarta. EPA

Saudi Arabia's troubled 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign hit a new setback as they were beaten 2-0 by Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Marselino Ferdinan, who plays his football in England with Oxford United, scored either side of half-time to earn the hosts a first win in Group C and leave the Saudis with work to do if they are to reach the tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Poor results cost former boss Roberto Mancini his job, while the returning Herve Renard will now have to pick his players up after this latest disappointment.

Fortunately for the Green Falcons, the qualification race remains wide open.

Leaders Japan hammered China 3-1 to go a staggering 10 points clear and move to the cusp of sealing their place at the finals, but the tussle for second is far from over.

Tuesday afternoon's results left Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and China all on six points ahead of Bahrain, who have five. Australia are away to Bahrain in the late game.

Headers from Koki Ogawa and Ko Itakura put runaway leaders Japan two goals up at half-time before Lin Liangming pulled one back for China early in the second half.

Ogawa then snuffed out China's hopes of a comeback with his second to silence a crowd of 45,000 in Xiamen, where fans without tickets gathered outside the ground to watch the action on their phones.

Loud booing greeted the Japanese national anthem before kick-off and the game was briefly stopped in the first half when a fan invaded the pitch.

"It was tough at times and we knew that the opening goal was going to be key," said Netherlands-based striker Ogawa.

Japan were playing their first senior international in China in nine years and there is a long history of rivalry between the two countries.

There was a heavy police presence outside the Xiamen Egret Stadium, where about 750 Japan fans were expected to be in attendance.

"All the players got us this win today," said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu. "The players on the pitch, the players on the bench and those that weren't on the bench today – it was down to their energy that we won."

In Group B, Palestine – nominally hosts for a game taking place in Jordan – grabbed a surprise 12th-minute lead over South Korea thanks to Zaid Qunbar.

The advantage lasted just four minutes, talisman and skipper Son Heung-min firing in from close range to bring the Koreans level with his 51st goal for his country.

It was all South Korea after that and Son had a goal chalked off for offside late on, but Palestine held on for a valuable point that helps keep them in the hunt.

Despite the 1-1 stalemate the Koreans are firmly on course for the World Cup at the top of the group with four games to go.

Youssef Amyn scored the only goal of the game in Muscat as Iraq claimed a vital 1-0 away win over Oman. The result keeps Iraq firmly in second spot behind the Koreans. Kuwait host Jordan in the late game in the group.

In Group A, talented 21-year-old Abbosbek Fayzullaev scored the only goal to give Uzbekistan a 1-0 win over North Korea in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

It cemented the Uzbeks' place in the top two, along with table-toppers Iran, who were 3-2 winners in Kyrgyzstan.

North Korea are rooted to the bottom of Group A – which also features UAE and Qatar – and are yet to win in six games in this phase of qualifying.

Only the top two from each of three sections will seal their place at the expanded 48-team tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico. The six third and fourth-placed teams will be split into two groups of three with the winners of each group playing off for a spot at the finals. The loser of that game will get one last chance in the intercontinental play-off.