Egy Maulana Vikri scored the only goal of the game for Indonesia to edge Vietnam 1-0 as Singapore fought back for a 2-2 draw against China in their third matches of Round 2 qualifiers of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
In the Group F qualifier that was played at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, a cautious start for both teams saw a drab first half before the game finally came alive after the break.
Vietnam’s failure to clear a long throw in from Pratama Arhan in the 52nd minute allowed Egy to pounce for the finish and what turned out to be the only goal of an intense game.
With the win, Indonesia have amassed four points for their second spot in Group F while Vietnam stayed third with three points – although this will depend on the Iraq-Philippines encounter later this morning.
Vietnam and Indonesia will clash again on 26 March 2024 at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.
In Group C at the National Stadium in Singapore, the home team fought back from two goals down to hold China to a 2-2 draw.
Just inside of ten minutes and China were in front when Wang Shangyuan’s cross from the right was flicked in by Wu Lei.
And China should have doubled the advantage just at the half hour mark but Wu Lei’s penalty was denied by Hassan Sunny,
However, China would finish the first half 2-0 in front when Wu Lei slotted home a rebound after Hassan had blocked Xie Pengfei’s attempt.
The changes after the break saw Singapore getting into attacking mode and just eight minutes in, Faris Ramli latched on to a cross from Lionel Tan to pull a goal back.
Eight minutes to the end, substitute Jacob Mahler then picked up a loose ball to score the equaliser for Singapore’s first point of the qualifiers.
China will take on Singapore again on 26 March 2024 at the Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium.
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