Saudi Arabia moves a step closer to qualification for 2026 World Cup

Saudi Arabia beat Indonesia 3-2 on Wednesday to move within 90 minutes of qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

A victory against Iraq next Tuesday, also in Jeddah, would guarantee Saudi Arabia first place in Group B and a seventh World Cup appearance.

In the fourth round of Asian qualifying, only the winners of the two groups of three earn automatic berths to the tournament. The runners-up advance to a fifth round.

Indonesia, coached by former Netherlands and Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert, struck first when Kevin Diks converted a penalty in the 11th minute. Six minutes later, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat equalized, and Firas Al-Buraikan’s penalty in the 37th put Saudi Arabia ahead.

Al-Buraikan scored again just after the hour mark, but Diks converted a second penalty in the 89th. Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Kanno was sent off in stoppage time, but the hosts held on for the win.

“One more step to go. God willing, we’ll make it happen,” Al-Buraikan said in comments posted on X by the Asian Football Confederation.

Indonesia’s chance of returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1938 will be over if it loses to Iraq on Saturday.

Earlier in Group A, Qatar was held to a 0-0 draw by Oman in Al-Rayyan.

“We performed well throughout the match against a stubborn team that defended well and closed down spaces,” Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui said. “Despite that, we created several opportunities but couldn’t convert them into goals."

Oman, the only team in the fourth round never to have appeared at the World Cup, plays the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

“A draw is the best result for both teams today. A loss would have hurt our chances of World Cup qualification,” Oman coach Carlos Queiroz said. "We don’t have much time before facing the UAE, but we’ll prepare well to keep our World Cup dream alive.”

Asia has eight automatic places and Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan had already qualified from the third round which ended in June

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Saudi Arabia's Salem Al Dawsari, right, attempts a shot at goal in front of Indonesia's goalkeeper Maarten Vincent Paes during the World Cup 2026 Asian qualifier fourth-round Group B soccer match between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia at Alinma Bank Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo)

Saudi Arabia's Feras Albrikan, right, heads the ball to scores his side's third goal during the World Cup 2026 Asian qualifier fourth-round Group B soccer match between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia at Alinma Bank Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo)

Saudi Arabia's Feras Albrikan, left, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup 2026 Asian qualifier fourth-round Group B soccer match between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia at Alinma Bank Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo)

Saudi Arabia's Salem Al Dawsari applauds fans during the World Cup 2026 Asian qualifier fourth-round Group B soccer match between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia at Alinma Bank Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo)

Saudi Arabia's Feras Albrikan, left, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup 2026 Asian qualifier fourth-round Group B soccer match between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia at Alinma Bank Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo)

One U.S. service member was rescued and at least one was missing after two U.S. military planes went down in separate incidents including the first shoot-down since the war began nearly five weeks ago.

It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.

Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.

The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Here is the latest:

U.S. and Israeli warplanes continued to pound Iran Saturday, hitting several targets including a petrochemical facility, Iranian media reported.

Iran's official English-language newspaper Tehran Times reported that an airstrike hit a facility belonging to Iran’s Agriculture Ministry in the western city of Mehran.

The newspaper said another air raid struck Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported several explosions heard late Saturday morning in the facility.

Mehr, another semiofficial news agency, reported that the strikes hit four companies within the zone.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the veiled threat in a social media post late Friday, asking about how busy oil tanker and container ship traffic is through the strait.

The 20-mile (32-kilometer) strait links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and is one of the busiest chokepoints in global trade, with more than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships passing through it.

Iran has already greatly disrupted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, sending fuel prices skyrocketing and jolting the world economy.

Disrupting transit through the Bab el-Madeb would force shipping firms to route their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, further hitting prices.

Israel’s rescue services said Saturday the man sustained glass shrapnel wounds after an Iranian missile hit the central city of Bnei Brak.

It wasn't clear if the glass shrapnel was caused by a direct strike or falling debris from an intercepted missile.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said it was taking the man to the hospital.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said Saturday that the two men who were hanged belonged to the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

The agency said Abul-Hassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amirian were convicted of “being members of a terrorist group.”

This brings to six the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that its air force struck ballistic and and anti-aircraft missile storage sites in Tehran.

It said the strikes a day earlier included weapons manufacture sites as well as military research and development facilities in the Iranian capital.

It said the strikes are part of an ongoing phase to increase damage to Iran's “core systems and foundations.”

Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.

Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.

It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.

Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.

The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.

Palestinian Muslims attend Friday prayers outside Jerusalem's Old City due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Tamara and her sister Amal color pictures on the floor as their parents, Sara and Ahmed, who fled their village of Khiyam in southern Lebanon due to Israeli bombardment, sit inside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)