The team is colloquially referred to asTim Garuda (Garuda Team),Timnas (National Team) orMerah Putih (The Red and White) after the country'snational emblem and their distinctive red-and-white jerseys based on thecountry's flag. Their fan club is known asLa Grande Indonesia andUltras Garuda.[6]
Indonesia was the first team from Asia to participate in theFIFA World Cup. The predecessor of the team,Dutch East Indies, participated in the1938 edition, where they were eliminated in the first round.[7][8] The team's only appearance at theOlympics was in1956.[9] Indonesia qualified for theAFC Asian Cup on five occasions, and advanced to the knockout stage for the first time in the2023 tournament, exiting in the round of 16.[10] Indonesia achieved the bronze medal at the1958 Asian Games in Tokyo.[9] The team appeared in theASEAN Championship final six times. They finished runners-up on all six occasions. Indonesia has long-standing football rivalries with neighboursMalaysia,Thailand andVietnam.
Dutch East Indies squad's pioneer, the predecessor of the Indonesia national team
Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies was the national team that represented the territory of present-day Indonesia during theDutch colonial era. The team was organized by the Dutch East Indies Football Union (NIVU), which became a member ofFIFA on 24 May 1924. The first recorded unofficial match of the Dutch East Indies was againstSingapore on 28 March 1921 inBatavia, which ended in a 1–0 win. This was followed by matches in August 1928 againstAustralia (2–1 win) and in 1930 against a team fromShanghai, China (4–4 draw).[9]
In 1934, a team fromJava represented the Dutch East Indies in theFar Eastern Games inManila, Philippines. The team managed to beatJapan 7–1 in the first match, but the last two matches ended in defeat, 0–2 toChina and 2–3 to thePhilippines, resulting in the team finishing second in the tournament.[12] These matches are considered byWorld Football Elo Ratings to be the first matches involving the Indonesia national team.[13] On 9 June 1935, two national organizations, NIVU and PSSI, joined forces and worked together to contribute players to the national team. NIVU remained the official football association of the Dutch East Indies and was admitted to FIFA membership on 14 August 1936, after first becoming a member in 1924.[14]
1938–1945: Asia's first FIFA World Cup participant
Dutch East Indies squad for the1938 edition of theWorld Cup
Dutch East Indies made itsFIFA World Cup debut during the1938 edition inFrance. The team advanced to the final round without playing any qualifying matches.Japan, who were drawn in Group 12 of thequalifying round with the Dutch East Indies, decided to withdraw from the competition. The Dutch East Indies were then ordered byFIFA to carry out aplay-off match against one of the Group 11 participants, theUnited States. The match was scheduled to be played on 29 May 1938, but never took place after the United States also decided to withdraw from the competition. This allowed the Dutch East Indies to advance to the final round as the Asia's first World Cup participant.[15][8]
In the final round, the Dutch East Indies were coached byJohan Mastenbroek who also served as chairman of the Dutch East Indies Football Association (NIVU). The team consisted of 17 players and was captained by a local Indonesian,Achmad Nawir. In the competition which still used the knockout format, the Dutch East Indies were eliminated in the first round when they were defeated byHungary 0–6. This match took place on 5 June 1938 at theStade Municipal,Reims. At the end of the competition, Hungary who had previously eliminated the Dutch East Indies, became the runner-up of the competition after being defeated byItaly 2–4 in thefinal.[16] To this day, the Dutch East Indies have been the only team representing a colony, before becoming an independent nation, to have qualified for a FIFA World Cup.
After theSecond World War, followed by theIndonesian Revolution in 1947, the national team no longer used the name Dutch East Indies and replacing it with the name Indonesia. The previous national football organization, the Dutch East Indies Football Union (NIVU) was succeeded by theFootball Association of Indonesia (PSSI). The team's first official match under the name Indonesia was on 5 March 1951 at theAsian Games, where they lost 0–3 by the host nationIndia at theNational Stadium, New Delhi.[17]
Indonesia qualified for the1956 Olympics inMelbourne. The team advanced directly to the quarter-finals of the tournament after the withdrawal of their first-round opponents,South Vietnam. In the quarter-finals, the team met theSoviet Union who had previously defeated theUnited Team of Germany 2–1. The match was held on 29 November 1956, where Indonesia forced the Soviet Union to a goalless draw. This resulted the match being replayed two days later where the team lost 0–4.[9]
In 1957, Indonesia dominated thequalifying round of the1958 FIFA World Cup. The team defeatedChina in the first round, then subsequently refused to play its next opponents,Israel, for political reasons.[9] Indonesian playerRusli Ramang became the top scorer at the end of the competition with 4 goals.
The1986 FIFA World Cup qualification round saw Indonesia advance from the first round with four wins, one draw, and one loss, eventually finishing at the top of its group.South Korea emerged victorious over Indonesia in the second round.[9] The team reached the semi-final of the1986 Asian Games after beating theUnited Arab Emirates in the quarter-finals. Indonesia then lost to host South Korea in the semi-finals and lost toKuwait in the bronze medal match.[18]
In the final group stage match of the1998 Tiger Cup, Indonesia facedThailand while the both teams already through to the semi-finals, but were also aware that the winner would have to face hostsVietnam. Indonesia'sMursyid Effendi deliberately kicked the ball into Indonesia's own goal as Thailand's attacker ran towards the ball.[20] FIFA fined both teams $40,000 for "violating the spirit of the game" while Effendi was banned from international association football for a lifetime. Indonesia was rewarded with a match by the team they wanted to face; minnowsSingapore (who they ironically lost 2–1 to) in the semi-finals.[21]
2000 AFC Asian Cup
The team's second appearance in the Asian Cup was inLebanon in the2000 AFC Asian Cup; again, the Indonesian team gained only one point from three games, and again, from a match against Kuwait that finished without a score from either side. Indonesia established a higher record in the2004 AFC Asian Cup, beatingQatar 2–1 to record the team's first-ever victory in the history of the tournament. The win was not enough for it to qualify for the second round, having fallen 0–5 to hostChina and 1–3 toBahrain.
2004 AFC Asian Cup
Indonesia then qualified for their third successful tournament in the2004 AFC Asian Cup being grouped with China, Qatar, andBahrain with them winning the only match against Qatar in a 2–1 victory but crashed out of the tournament with only three points.
The2007 AFC Asian Cup saw Indonesia co-hosting the tournament withMalaysia,Thailand andVietnam becoming the first time in the AFC Asian Cup history that four countries co-hosted the competition. In the opening match of the tournament, Indonesia faces Bahrain with goals coming fromBudi Sudarsono andBambang Pamungkas to secure a 2–1 win. However, in the following two matches, Indonesia suffered a 2–1 defeat toSaudi Arabia and narrowly losing toSouth Korea 1–0 which Indonesia failed to qualified to the knockout stage of the tournament.
AFF Championship
Indonesia reached the finals ofAFF Championship on six occasions (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016, and 2020), albeit never managing to lift the trophy victoriously. The team's claim of regional titles came in theSoutheast Asian Games of 1987 and 1991.[22][23]
After thePeter Withe era, the inability to fulfill the ASEAN target has been cited as the reason for Indonesia's "revolving door" in terms of team managers. Over two years, Indonesia's manager changed from Kolev to local coachBenny Dollo who was in turn sacked in 2010. The head coach position was then held byAlfred Riedl who failed to lift any cups and in July 2011 was then replaced byWim Rijsbergen.[24][25]
2012–2016: Suspensions
In March 2012, PSSI received a warning for the divided state of Indonesian football, whereby two separate leagues existed: the rebelIndonesia Super League (ISL), which isn't recognized by PSSI orFIFA, and theIndonesia Premier League (IPL). The National Sports Committee (KONI) encouraged PSSI to work collaboratively with Indonesian Football Savior Committee (KPSI) officials to rectify the situation but KONI chairman Tono Suratman stated in March 2012 that KONI would take over the beleaguered PSSI if matters are not improved.[26] FIFA did not state whether Indonesia would face suspension, but on 20 March 2012, FIFA made an announcement. In the lead-up to 20 March 2012, PSSI struggled to resolve the situation and looked to its annual congress for a final solution.[27] PSSI was given until 15 June 2012 to settle the issues at stake, notably the control of the breakaway league; failing this, the case was to be referred to theFIFA Emergency Committee for suspension.[28] FIFA eventually set a new 1 December 2012 deadline. In the two weeks preceding the deadline, three out of four PSSI representatives withdrew from the joint committee, citing frustrations in dealing with KPSI representatives. However, FIFA stated that it would only issue a punishment to Indonesian football after the Indonesian national squad finished its involvement in the2012 AFF Championship.[29]
In 2013, the president of PSSIDjohar Arifin Husin signed aMemorandum of understanding (MoU) withLa Nyalla Matalitti (KPSI-PSSI) that was initiated byFIFA and theAFC through theAsian Football Confederation's Task Force. Since then, the control ofIndonesia Super League was taken by the Joint committee to remain manageable byPT Liga Indonesia until the establishment of a new professional competition by the committee.[30] This means the Indonesian players fromISL were able to play and join the national team. The PSSI called players from both football leagues, ISL andIPL to fortify the national team for the Asian Cup qualifier of 2015. On 7 January 2013, PSSI announced a list of 51 players from both sides of football leagues regardless of whether players from the breakaway Indonesia Super League (ISL) would make an appearance, allegedly ISL clubs were reluctant to release players because they doubted Djohar's leadership.[31]
On 18 March 2013, PSSI held a congress atKuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both parties, PSSI and KPSI (breakaway group) solved their differences in four contentious points; such as; Reunification of two leagues; Revision of the PSSI Statutes; Reinstatement of the four expelled PSSI Executive Committee membersLa Nyalla Mattalitti, Roberto Rouw, Erwin Dwi Budiawan, and Toni Apriliani; and agreement of all parties to the Memorandum of Understanding from 7 June 2012 on the list of delegates to the PSSI Congress based on the list of the Solo Congress of July 2011. The new PSSI called 58 players from both sides leagues (ISL and IPL) for the national squad.Rahmad Darmawan returned as the caretaker coach of the national team withJacksen F. Tiago as the assistant coach. They trimmed the 58 players initially called for national training to 28. The list would then be trimmed again to just 23 players for theSaudi Arabia match.Victor Igbonefo,Greg Nwokolo andSergio van Dijk the three naturalised players were on the final list.[32] On 23 March 2013, Indonesia was defeated 1–2 by Saudi Arabia at home.Boaz Solossa gave Indonesia the first goal in their campaign for AFC Asian Cup qualification; the home team started with the goal in the sixth minute but the Saudi Side fought back with the equalizer fromYahya Al-Shehri in the 14th minute beforeYousef Al-Salem the scored what turned out to be the winner on 56th minute.[33]
In 2015, Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was suspended by FIFA due to government interference in the domestic competition. The announcement was made on 30 May 2015 and had an immediate impact on the national team. Indonesia would not be eligible to compete in the next round of qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup, starting less than two weeks later. FIFA took action against Indonesia following a row between the local government and the football association which has resulted in the cancellation of the domestic competition.[34] The suspension was lifted at the66th FIFA Congress.[35] By then, hurried perpetration was done for Indonesia in order to get in touch for the upcoming2016 AFF Championship where Indonesia eventually reached the final and once again fell to Thailand in process.[36]
2017–2019: Rebuilding
Some weeks after finishing as runners-up in the2016 AFF Championship, PSSI held a congress on 8 January 2017 in an effort to sign Spanish coach,Luis Milla to handle their senior andU-22 team. Prior to the2018 AFF Championship, Milla departed without any explanation, causing anger among Indonesian supporters.[37] Indonesia crashed out from the group stage in the2018 AFF Championship, which led to the sacking ofBima Sakti.[38] In order to prepare for the2022 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Indonesia signed Scottish coachSimon McMenemy with hope that his successful tenure with the Philippines could reinvigorate Indonesia's performance especially when Indonesia was grouped with three Southeast Asian rivals Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam alongsideUAE.[39] Indonesia lost all four matches including a 2–3 home defeat to Malaysia despite having taken a 2–1 lead prior followed by a home loss to Vietnam for the first time in any competitive tournaments.[40][41] On 6 November 2019, PSSI decided to sack McMenemy over the national team's deteriorating performance.[42] Indonesia traveled to Malaysia and lost 0–2 to its rival and was officially eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[43]
After failing to qualify for the World Cup, PSSI appointedShin Tae-yong as the head coach of the Indonesian national team, becoming the first South Korean in Indonesia's managerial history. This appointment was based on the success of fellow Korean coachPark Hang-seo in Vietnam. Shin was then tasked with immediately forming a team to compete in the2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification round.[44][45]
Under the management of Shin Tae-yong, the majority of the senior team was reshuffled to include many young players of whom the majority were from theIndonesia national under-23 football team. Indonesia made it to the2020 AFF Championship final with an average player age of 23.
2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification
In the2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Indonesia defeated host and former Asian champions,Kuwait, whom they had not defeated in 42 years, 2–1, to the surprise of many people, the first official win by a Southeast Asian team against a West Asian host since 2004 (whenThailand beatYemen 3–0 inSana'a during the2006 FIFA World Cup qualification), and was the first time in the history that a Southeast Asian team had won against a Persian Gulf team as the visitor. In the final match, Indonesia massively beatNepal 7–0 at theJaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. Boosted by the win, Indonesia qualified for the upcoming2023 AFC Asian Cup after a 16-year absence. Indonesia would be drawn with the top AFC rank team,Japan,Iraq, and Southeast Asia rival, Vietnam.
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
Indonesia began their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign in the first round, where they defeatedBrunei 12–0 on aggregate to advance.
In the second round, Indonesia was drawn into a group with Iraq, Vietnam, and the Philippines, the same two teams they would later face in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup group stage. They opened the round with a 5–1 defeat to Iraq inBasra, followed by a 1–1 draw against the Philippines inManila.
Indonesia then started off 2024 playing two friendly matches againstLibya at theMardan Sports Complex inTurkey before flying off to Qatar for the last friendly match againstIran as the final preparation for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup tournament, which Indonesia lost all the three matches.
In the first match, Indonesia faced off against Iraq just after two months of facing each other, in a 1–3 loss. In the second match, Indonesia faced off against Southeast Asia rivalVietnam where captain,Asnawi Mangkualam converted a goal from the penalty spot to score the only goal in the match, it was the first time Indonesia defeated Vietnam after 7 years, as Indonesia gained 3 points. In the last group match, Indonesia lost 3–1 to the AFC top rank team, Japan.
Despite with two losses in the group stage, Indonesia qualified into Round of 16 by finishing as one of the four best third-place groups which was confirmed after another match inGroup F betweenKyrgyzstan andOman ended in a draw.[46][47] For the first time ever, Indonesia passed through to the knockout stage of the AFC Asian Cup since their first appearance in1996 AFC Asian Cup.[47] Indonesia faced againstAustralia in the Round of 16, and the team's run ended with a 4–0 loss.
Advanced to the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
At the continuation of the2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, Indonesia managed to beat Vietnam again twice on 21 & 26 March, 1–0 inJakarta and 3–0 inHanoi; the latter would be the first time since 2004 that Indonesia defeated Vietnam in their own home ground. Thus Indonesia climbed up to the second place of the group with 7 points. The two victories also made Indonesia surpass ASEAN rivals, Philippines and Malaysia in the FIFA ranking, the latter would be the first time Indonesia placed above Malaysia in the FIFA ranking in 5 years.[48][49]
On 25 April 2024, PSSI presidentErick Thohir announced that Shin's contract is officially extended until 2027.[50]
Indonesia's players celebrate a goal against thePhilippines, 11 June 2024. Indonesia won 2–0.
In June 2024, Indonesia concluded the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers with two home matches. They suffered a 0–2 defeat to Iraq but secured a 2–0 victory over the Philippines in their final group match. With this result, Indonesia finished as Group F runner-up, earning qualification for the2027 AFC Asian Cup and advancing to thethird round of World Cup qualification for the first time in history.[51] In the third round, Indonesia were drawn into Group C which consisted of powerhouse likeJapan,Australia,Saudi Arabia,China, andBahrain. Indonesia started off their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September 2024 where they draw 1–1 against Saudi Arabia inJeddah and a goalless draw with Australia at home.[52][53] In October 2024, Indonesia draw 2–2 with Bahrain inRiffa but however suffered a 2–1 defeat to China inQingdao.[54][55] In November 2024, Indonesia suffered a heavy 4–0 defeat to Japan at home.[56] However, in the next match, Indonesia surprised the entire world with a shock as they defeated Saudi Arabia 2–0 withMarselino Ferdinan scoring a brace, thus breaking the record of Southeast Asian countries that have never beaten Saudi Arabia.[57]
2024 ASEAN Championship
In the2024 ASEAN Championship, Indonesia fielded a squad primarily composed of players from the U-16 and U-20 teams, along with a few senior players who had participated in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification. The squad had an average age of 20.4 years.[58] Indonesia was placed in Group B, of which containedVietnam,Philippines,Myanmar, andLaos.[59] Indonesia secured one victory but did not advance past the group stage.
Shin's Contract Termination
On 6 January 2025, PSSI announced the termination of Shin Tae-yong's contract as Head Coach of the Indonesian Senior and U-23 National Teams.[60] The Indonesian FA President Erick Thohir said the dismissal was due to communication and tactical issues, with the defeat against China and failure in the ASEAN Championship being the determining factors.
The dismissal triggered significant backlash from supporters, who believed that Shin Tae-yong had played a major role in elevating the reputation of Indonesian football.
2025: Patrick Kluivert era
Following Shin Tae-yong's dismissal, on 8 January 2025, the PSSI officially appointedPatrick Kluivert as head coach, withAlex Pastoor andDenny Landzaat assisting him with a contract until 2027.[61] In the continuation of third round World Cup qualifiers, Indonesia's first match under Kluivert ended in a 1–5 away loss to Australia, but they bounced back by defeating Bahrain 1–0 at home. On 5 June 2025, Indonesia managed to defeat China 1–0, their first win against the latter in 38 years. The win advanced Indonesia to thefourth round of World Cup qualification.[62]
Elimination from the World Cup qualification and dismissal
However, in the fourth round, Indonesia was beaten bySaudi Arabia 2–3 andIraq 0–1, thus eliminating Indonesia fromWorld Cup qualification. Following the elimination, widespread fan disappointment sparked calls for Kluivert’s immediate dismissal. The anger intensified after Kluivert and his assistants returned to the Netherlands without issuing an apology or accepting responsibility for the defeat. National team manager Sumardji stated that an Exco meeting would be held for an evaluation about Kluivert and his assistants performance.[63] On 16 October 2025, PSSI decided to parted ways with Kluivert and the rest of the coaching staff through a mutual agreement.[64]
Indonesia's football jersey with number 17 in 1981
During theDutch colonial era, the team competed as Dutch East Indies in international matches and played in an orange jersey, the national color of theNetherlands. There are no official documents about the team's kit, only several black-and-white photos from the match againstHungary in the1938 FIFA World Cup but unofficial documents stated that the kit consisted of an orange jersey, white shorts and light blue socks.[65]SinceIndonesia's independence, the kit consists of red and white, the colors of thecountry's flag. A combination of green and white has also been used for the away kits and was used for the team's participation in the1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, until the mid-1980s.[66]
Erspo is the national team'skit provider, a sponsorship that began in 2024 after theAFC Asian Cup inQatar, and is contracted to continue until at least 2026.[67] Previously the team's kit was supplied byNike andMills. Indonesia also wears other apparel, only when they compete in international sports events such as theAsian Games and theSoutheast Asian Games. In those events Indonesia wearsLi-Ning, this is due to the Asian Games and SEA Games being multi-sports events all of whose contingents are under the Indonesian National Olympic Committee (NOC).[68]
From 2007 to 2019,Nike was the national team kit provider.[69] The 2010–2012 home kit became an issue when the team played against an opponent wearing an all-white uniform since the socks were white instead of the usual red. The solution was solved with a red-green-green combination (for away games) with green shorts and socks taken from the away kit, or initially an all-red uniform (for home games). After a home defeat in the2014 World Cup third round qualifier match againstBahrain on 6 September 2011, the red shorts (with green application) were scrapped after its first outing and has never been used again. The red socks had white application on them, different from the red socks with green application worn during training. The combination of red-white-red was used sometimes in the future as the alternate home kit, for example on the subsequent home matches of the qualifiers againstQatar andIran later that year.
On 31 May 2018, Nike released Indonesia's new home and away kits. The home shirt was red with a golden Nike logo inspired by the country's national emblem, theGaruda Pancasila. The home kit consisted of a red-white-red combination. The away kit consisted of a white-green-white combination with a green Nike logo on the shirt.[70]
In 2020, Indonesia started using new apparel from local brandsMills until 2024. The home kit consists of a red-white-red combination with a silhouette in the front of the kit. The away kit consists white-green-white combination with a green horizontal strip across the front of the kit and a smaller white horizontal strip across the green strip. The third kit consists all black combination with golden strips and a silhouette in the front of the kit.[71]
Indonesia's main rival isMalaysia. It is one of Southeast Asia and Asia's best knownfootball rivalries.[75][76] The countries have played against each other 99 times, of which Indonesia have won 40, drawn 21 and lost 38. The heated political conflict between the two countries in the 1960s transmitted disease to the football field. The infamous "Ganyang Malaysia!" statement put forward by Indonesia's first presidentSukarno in a 1963 political speech in Jakarta was considered an encouragement for the Indonesian team before matches against Malaysia.[77]
The first competitive match between the countries was a 4–2 win for Indonesia in the second round of the1957 Merdeka Tournament inKuala Lumpur. Since then, the matches between the two, whether inJakarta or Kuala Lumpur, have always been packed with spectators and have often resulted controversial incidents. In 2011, two fans died in a stampede during aSoutheast Asian Games final between the under-23 teams of Indonesia and Malaysia in Jakarta.[75] The two teams most recently met in the2020 AFF Championship, with Indonesia winning 4–1.
Another of Indonesia's rivalries is based on its geographical proximity to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia such asThailand,Vietnam, andSingapore.
Media coverage
The national team is always broadcast onMNC Media. But from 2020, MNC only covered the national team matches atASEAN Championship andAFC Asian Cup due to MNC–Lagardère (ASEAN Championship) and AFC broadcasting rights partnership contract.[78][79] However, other networks likeEmtek bought the rights fromPSSI only.
Indonesia team qualifiers for the2026 FIFA World Cup and2027 AFC Asian Cup are broadcast by MNC Media's free-to-air television networkRCTI (1st round, 2nd round until matchday 5, 3rd round, & 4th round) and Emtek's free-to-air television networkIndosiar andSCTV (matchday 6 of 2nd round only).[80]
During Indonesia's early days as the Dutch East Indies, there was no stadium that could be recognized as a home ground since the national team never played home games in the country. The national team at that time played four games at neutral venues and one away game.[9] It was only after independence in 1945, the national team used theIkada Stadium inJakarta as their home ground.[13] The stadium had a capacity of 30,000 spectators and was also used for theNational Sports Week in1951. It was the largest stadium in Jakarta until 1962. The team used the stadium until 1963 after it was demolished to make way for construction of theNational Monument. The site is now known asMerdeka Square.[81]
^ab"FIFA Century Club"(PDF).FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 1 December 2021.Archived(PDF) from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved7 June 2022.
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