Suara.com – The Indonesian U-17 national team will play a life-and-death match against Morocco in the final match of Group A of the 2023 U-17 World Cup. The Garuda Asia squad must win if they want to qualify for the round of 16.
As is known, the Indonesian U-17 National Team is currently in third place in Group A of the 2023 U-17 World Cup by collecting two points from two matches, namely against Ecuador and Panama.
This point achievement is only one point behind Morocco, which is in second place, and two points behind Ecuador at the top of the standings.
By achieving these points, the U-17 Indonesian National Team inevitably had to achieve victory in the final match of Group A, namely against Morocco, Thursday (16/11).
Victory over Morocco will automatically mean that the squad made by Bima Sakti can qualify for the round of 16 with the status of champion or runner up in group A.
This victory will make the Indonesian U-17 National Team achieve five points from three matches and have the opportunity to become group winners if Ecuador loses to Panama.
So what if the Indonesian U-17 National Team scores a draw or defeat when they meet Morocco? Can the Garuda squad qualify via the best third place route?
Depends on Results of Other Groups
If the Indonesian U-17 national team draws with Morocco, the Red and White team must first hope that Panama fails to win over Ecuador to lock up third place.
With the draw against Morocco, the Indonesian U-17 National Team will pocket three points. Meanwhile, if Panama does not win over Ecuador, the maximum points will only be two points.
If they have succeeded in securing third place, the U-17 Indonesian National Team will have to look at the results from the other groups, considering that only four countries from the six groups will qualify via third place.
If they hope for the results of other groups, the Indonesian U-17 National Team must hope that Mexico and South Korea, who also sit in third place in groups F and E, do not win in their last match.
But this hope could be dashed, considering that Mexico and South Korea will face the bottom of their respective groups, namely New Zealand and Burkina Faso.
If Mexico and South Korea win, these two countries will move into the list of the four best third-ranked countries to qualify for the last 16, displacing the U-17 Indonesian National Team.
Even though Mexico and South Korea have the potential to win, the Indonesian U-17 National Team can still qualify via the best third place route provided that Japan and Uzbekistan from groups B and D lose in the last match.
In their final match, Japan and Uzbekistan will face Senegal and Spain. In other words, there is a chance that both countries will lose in the final match of Groups B and D.
If Japan and Uzbekistan then draw the Indonesian U-17 national team against Morocco, then the Garuda squad can move up to third place and qualify with a goal difference advantage over the two countries.