The Socceroos’ hopes of direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup have suffered another major blow following a frustrating 0-0 draw with Indonesia, adding further pressure to coach Graham Arnold and his underperforming players.

The national team were under pressure after last week’s shock 1-0 defeat to Bahrain on home soil, but they remained goalless against one of the confederation’s relative small-fry in their second consecutive game at the start of the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying.

This result leaves them languishing in fifth place in Group C and already three points behind current leaders Saudi Arabia, who celebrated a 2-1 victory against China after being reduced to ten players.

And it puts the spotlight on Arnold, his tactics and his selection, as the national team clearly struggles in attack to function against teams like Indonesia and Bahrain, who drop back and defend in large numbers. And while he is often criticised for his pragmatic, fairly rudimentary style of play, the coach was also clearly disappointed by the lack of quality of his players on the night.

This game was more open than the Bahrain clash, with Indonesia being a little bolder, but the Socceroos still dominated in all areas except the one that really mattered: goal. They had 63 percent possession, 15 corners to three and had 19 shots on goal, five of which were on target, but in the end it was all in vain. The majority of their play was again based on long balls, crosses and set pieces, but the crosses from set-piece players Craig Goodwin and Sam Silvera left a lot to be desired.

Australia’s best chance of the first half fell to Nestory Irankunda, named by Arnold as one of five changes to the team that lost to Bahrain. As he often did for Adelaide United, Irankunda fired in a long-range effort that hit the right post and almost deflected into the net off the back of Indonesian goalkeeper Maarten Paes, who was unaware of the incident.

Adam Taggart also had a golden chance shortly after coming on as a substitute in the second half, but his shot went straight at Paes from almost close range.

This is only the second time in their last ten meetings that the Socceroos have dropped points against Indonesia. The hosts, ranked 133rd in the world, were backed by a boisterous crowd of nearly 80,000 fans at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta and enjoyed their support until the end.

Next month, the Socceroos face China at the Adelaide Oval and then travel to a daunting showdown with rivals and likely group leaders Japan. Anything less than a win over China would further jeopardise hopes of a 2-2 finish in Group C and raise further doubts about whether Arnold is the right man to lead them to the 2026 World Cup.