Latest news with #PatrickKluivert
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kluivert's Indonesia to face Saudi Arabia in World Cup qualifying
Patrick Kuivert's Indonesia were on Thursday handed a tough draw for the final round of Asian qualifying as they try to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 1938. Coached by former Barcelona star and Dutch great Kluivert, Indonesia will play hosts Saudi Arabia and Iraq in Group B of the fourth round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 finals. Qatar will host Group A and face the United Arab Emirates and Oman after the six-team draw took place at the Asian Football Confederation's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Matches in both groups will be played in a single round-robin format in October in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The two group winners will join the six Asian nations already qualified for next year's global showpiece in Mexico, the United States and Canada. The two second-placed teams will meet in November, with the winner over two legs entering an intercontinental playoff for the final spot at the 48-team World Cup. Indonesia have embarked on a recruitment drive of Dutch-born players and backroom staff to bolster their bid for a first World Cup finals berth since becoming an independent nation. Jordi Cruyff, son of Dutch football legend Johan, was in February appointed technical adviser to the Football Association of Indonesia to work alongside Kluivert. Indonesia last qualified for a World Cup while still under Dutch colonial rule and lost 6-0 to Hungary in their only match of that tournament, hosted by France. They will face a difficult task against Middle East giants Saudi Arabia, who have home advantage and will be heavily favoured to top Group B. The Saudis have qualified for the World Cup on seven previous occasions including the last two editions. Iraq have only qualified once in their history, in 1986. Qatar hosted the last World Cup in 2022 on their only appearance in the finals and will be favourites to top Group A at home. The United Arab Emirates reached the World Cup one time, in 1990, while Oman have never qualified. Australia, Japan, Jordan, Iran, South Korea and Uzbekistan have already secured their World Cup berths from the Asian confederation. jhe/dh
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kluivert's Indonesia to face Saudi Arabia in World Cup qualifying
Patrick Kuivert's Indonesia were on Thursday handed a tough draw for the final round of Asian qualifying as they try to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 1938. Coached by former Barcelona star and Dutch great Kluivert, Indonesia will play hosts Saudi Arabia and Iraq in Group B of the fourth round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 finals. Qatar will host Group A and face the United Arab Emirates and Oman after the six-team draw took place at the Asian Football Confederation's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Matches in both groups will be played in a single round-robin format in October in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The two group winners will join the six Asian nations already qualified for next year's global showpiece in Mexico, the United States and Canada. The two second-placed teams will meet in November, with the winner over two legs entering an intercontinental playoff for the final spot at the 48-team World Cup. Indonesia have embarked on a recruitment drive of Dutch-born players and backroom staff to bolster their bid for a first World Cup finals berth since becoming an independent nation. Jordi Cruyff, son of Dutch football legend Johan, was in February appointed technical adviser to the Football Association of Indonesia to work alongside Kluivert. Indonesia last qualified for a World Cup while still under Dutch colonial rule and lost 6-0 to Hungary in their only match of that tournament, hosted by France. They will face a difficult task against Middle East giants Saudi Arabia, who have home advantage and will be heavily favoured to top Group B. The Saudis have qualified for the World Cup on seven previous occasions including the last two editions. Iraq have only qualified once in their history, in 1986. Qatar hosted the last World Cup in 2022 on their only appearance in the finals and will be favourites to top Group A at home. The United Arab Emirates reached the World Cup one time, in 1990, while Oman have never qualified. Australia, Japan, Jordan, Iran, South Korea and Uzbekistan have already secured their World Cup berths from the Asian confederation. jhe/dh
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
🎥 Remembering Patrick Kluivert's international brilliance on his birthday
For many football fans, Patrick Kluivert defined a generation. As a Champions League winner with Ajax, the forward became a household name before enjoying a similarly star-studded spell in Barcelona's front line. Advertisement Kluivert's mercurial talent on the international stage was often overlooked due to the Netherlands falling short at several major tournaments during his peak. But as he celebrates his 49th birthday, it's worth appreciating one of his finest moments of hitting a hat-trick in a 6-1 hammering of Yugoslavia at EURO 2000. The Oranje's no.9 showcased his finesse to help Frank Rijkaard's side into the semi finals of the tournament jointly hosted in their homeland a quarter of a century ago. Ronald Koeman is fortunate enough to have a sprinkling of Kluivert's magic at his disposal in Bournemouth winger Justin, who has followed in his father's footsteps. 📸 Shaun Botterill
ABC News
11-06-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Australia joins Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan as FIFA World Cup finals qualifiers
Australia has joined Japan, Iran, South Korea and first-time qualifiers Uzbekistan and Jordan as automatic qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals. The Socceroos secured their place with a gritty 2-1 victory over Asian powerhouse Saudi Arabia in Jeddah. The win meant they finished second in Group C to Japan, which earlier crushed Indonesia 6-0 to win Group C. "Now, [we] see the real level of a top team, a top country, and [see that we] need to improve," Indonesia's coach Patrick Kluivert said after the game. "It was a big learning moment although we're very disappointed with the result.'' Iran was confirmed as Group A winner with a 3-0 win over North Korea that came after Kye Tam was sent off for the visitors with 24 minutes remaining in Tehran. Mehdi Mohebi, Mehdi Taremi and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh were all on target in the last 16 minutes to guarantee first place for the Iranians, who had secured their berth in March. The Socceroos togetherness could see them do something special at the World Cup. ( AP Photo ) Already-qualified Uzbekistan took second spot with a 3-0 win against Qatar in Tashkent while the United Arab Emirates claimed third ahead of the Qataris despite conceding a late goal to draw 1-1 with Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek. Uzbekistan is the first nation from Central Asia to qualify for the World Cup finals and was a likely contender to step up and gain qualification after narrowly missing out in 2006 and 2014. While most of its team plays in the domestic league, it includes a few Europe-based stars like Roma forward Eldor Shomurodov and Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov. South Korea completed its commitments in Group B with a 4-0 thrashing of Kuwait to ensure Hong Myung-bo's World Cup-bound outfit topped the standings with an unbeaten record. Jordan, which qualified for its first World Cup, finished second in Group B despite losing 1-0 to former Australian coach Graham Arnold's Iraq in Amman. Uzbekistan has qualified for its first FIFA World Cup finals. ( Reuters: Maxim Shemetov ) Will any other Asian nations qualify? Yes. The beaten Saudis feature in a fourth phase of qualifiers in October alongside Indonesia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman. These six teams will be split into two groups of three, with the winners of each group qualifying for the finals. Saudi Arabia would be favourites to qualify, given its pedigree at World Cups, including a famous win against eventual winner Argentina in 2022. The two sides which finish as runners-up will then play off against each other in a two-legged final. The winner of that match up will advance to a play-off tournament. That tournament will feature six teams, two from Concacaf (North and Central America) and one team apiece from Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania. The two highest-ranked teams will go directly into the finals. The four lowest-ranked nations will then meet in semi-finals with the two winners going through to the World Cup. Indonesia coach Patrick Kluivert says his team has plenty to learn after its 6-0 drubbing by Japan. ( Reuters: Issei Kato ) Who else has already qualified? The 2026 World Cup finals will be hosted across three nations: Canada, Mexico and the United States. As hosts, these three automatically qualify. Apart from the six Asian nations, Argentina and New Zealand are the only other confirmed qualifiers so far. What happens next? European qualifying matches only began in March this year, so we won't know who has qualified until March 2026. The 54 nations are divided into 12 groups, with all group winners automatically qualifying. Another four qualifiers will be decided in a play-off between the second-placed teams and four best-ranked UEFA Nations League section winners. In South America, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil are best-placed for automatic qualification with Colombia and Venezuela battling for the sixth spot. The seventh-placed team will go into the play off tournament. We won't know who will qualify from Africa until later this year. There are 54 teams in nine groups with the top team from each group qualifying. The four best runners-up go to play-off semifinals. Central America and the Caribbean qualifiers are in the process of deciding the final 12 teams which will be divided into three groups of four teams. The three group winners will qualify directly. Two other teams will enter the play off tournament. With New Zealand securing direct qualification in March, Oceania runners-up New Caledonia gets a second chance when it enters the play-off tournament. ABC/wires
Malay Mail
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Indonesia must learn from 6-0 thrashing by Japan as World Cup dreams remain alive, says Kluivert
OSAKA, June 11 — Patrick Kluivert told his wounded Indonesia side they must learn from their embarrassing 6-0 thrashing by Japan as they attempt to reach the World Cup for the first time as an independent country. Indonesia's dreams of appearing at their first finals since gaining independence in 1945 are still alive after they finished fourth in Asian qualifying Group C. They join Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Asian champions Qatar in October's fourth qualifying round, with the draw to be made next month. The winners of the two three-team groups will advance to next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Netherlands and Barcelona great Kluivert admitted that Group C winners Japan were 'a size too big' for his team in Osaka on Tuesday. 'We need to learn from this big defeat,' said the 48-year-old, who took over midway through the third qualifying round. 'We're very disappointed, of course, but we have to be prepared for the fourth round, and for me now the most important thing is to look back post-match, learn from it and look forward to the fourth round.' Indonesia were already guaranteed a place in the fourth round after beating China 1-0 in Jakarta last week. They were outclassed by a Japan team who booked their World Cup place with three games to spare and ended the third round with 30 goals from 10 matches. Kluivert was not helped by a first-half injury to forward Kevin Diks, whose replacement Yakob Sayuri was then substituted 15 minutes later after a clash of heads. Kluivert said Japan were too good for Indonesia but they had to 'admit this and carry on'. 'We tried our best but it wasn't enough,' he said. 'It was the quality of the players that Japan has in this team. We can talk a lot about it but that's the fact, that Japan was a size too big for us this evening.' — AFP
