Top News

Report by Tribun-Papua.com journalist, Calvin Louis Erari

TRIBUN-PAPUA.COM, NABIRE – The World Cup 2026 fever in Nabire has sparked a unique way of choosing favourite teams. Rather than blind fandom, the Chairman of the Saireri II Indigenous Youth, Ali Kabiay, deliberately used a statistical research approach and match records to solidify his support for two European giants — the Netherlands and France — ahead of the upcoming global tournament.

In this major event, which will feature 48 nations from various continents, Ali Kabiay from Nabire, Central Papua Province, explained that his choices were not made at random.

He revealed that he had conducted in-depth research by analysing head-to-head statistics from World Cup qualifiers and monitoring the consistent performances of both teams in various international friendlies.

“I always follow their progress. For me, the Netherlands and France are currently the two most promising forces,” Ali told Tribun-Papua.com on Saturday afternoon, (30 May 2026).

He stated that the Dutch national team has exceptional squad depth. According to Ali, De Oranje not only rely on their classic Total Football style but also display balanced creativity across defence, midfield, and attack.

“Their style of play is very artistic. Their forwards are also still incredibly sharp,” he added.

It is known that the Netherlands squad features several big names who will appear in the 2026 World Cup.

Among them are Mark Flekken, Robin Roefs, Bart Verbruggen, Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries, Jorrel Hato, Jan Paul van Hecke, Jurrien Timber, Quinten Timber, and Micky van de Ven.

There are also Frenkie de Jong, Teun Koopmeiners, Tijjani Reijnders, Marten de Roon, Mats Wieffer, Gus Til, Brian Brobbey, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo, Justin Kluivert, Noa Lang, Donyell Malen, Crystencio Summerville, and Wout Weghorst.

Meanwhile, for the French national team, Ali expressed his admiration for the evenly distributed individual quality of players across all lines.

He specifically highlighted Kylian Mbappe as one of the most feared forwards in Europe.

According to him, Les Bleus, which is composed of world-class players such as William Saliba, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Ousmane Dembele, possess a complete package capable of winning the championship.

Looking at the team composition and tactical formations, Ali predicted that both the Netherlands and France have strong chances of reaching the semifinals or even the final stage.

“Given their quality, both teams have great potential to advance far and secure places among the world’s top 10 in the upcoming tournament,” he concluded.

For context, the 2026 World Cup will make history as it welcomes participation from 48 nations across different continents, including Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland, Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland, the United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey, and Germany.

Other participants include Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia, Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand, Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway, Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Portugal, Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia, England, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama.

The participation of these nations is expected to make the competition for the world’s most prestigious trophy even more intense and full of surprises. (*)