The Indonesia national football team represents Indonesia in international association football. It was the first Asian team to participate in the FIFA World Cup, most notably as the Dutch East Indies in the 1938 edition. The country’s only appearance at the World Cup was a 6–0 loss to eventual finalists Hungary in the first round. As such, Indonesia holds the World Cup record for the fewest matches (1) and is one of the teams with the fewest goals scored (0). Indonesia Football History.
Indonesia National Team
The team’s only appearance at the Olympics was in 1956. Indonesia has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup on five occasions and has never progressed beyond the group stage in the last four tournaments. Indonesia won the bronze medal at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. The team has reached the final tie of the AFF Championship on six occasions and has never won the tournament. They share a local rivalry with ASEAN teams, including against Malaysia, which is partly related to cultural and political reasons.
Matches involving the Dutch East Indies were organized by the Nederlandse Indesche Voetball Bond (NIVB), or its successor, the Nederlandse Indesche Voetball Uni (NIVU). Matches that were played before the country’s independence in 1945 were not recognized by the PSSI.
Best Team
The first recorded match involving a Dutch East Indies team was a match against the Singapore national team on 28 March 1921. This was follow by a match against an Australian XI in August 1928 (a 2–1 victory) and a Shanghai team two years later (a 4–4 draw).
A team from Java represented the Dutch East Indies in the Far Eastern Games played in Manila in 1934. After defeating the Japanese, in their first match, 7–1, the next two matches end in defeats (2–0 to China and 3–2 to the host nation), which result in the Javanese national team finishing in second place. Reached the upcoming tournament. Although not recognized by the PSSI, these matches are considered by World Football Elo Ratings as the first matches of the Indonesian national team.
The first Asian team to participate in the FIFA World Cup when the team qualified for the 1938 tournament after Japan withdrew from the qualification heats. A 6–0 defeat by Hungary in the first round of the tournament in Reims, the country’s only appearance at the World Cup.
Asian Cup
Indonesia’s first participation in the AFC Asian Cup was against the United Arab Emirates in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. During the tournament, Indonesia picked up just one point from a 2–2 draw against Kuwait in the first round.
The team’s second appearance in the Asian Cup was in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon. Once again, the Indonesian team pick up just one point from three games. And again, a match against Kuwait that ended scoreless for either side. Indonesia set a record high at the 2004 AFC Asian Cup. Defeating Qatar 2–1 to record the team’s first victory in the tournament’s history. The win was not enough to qualify for the second round, falling 0-5 to hosts China and 1-3 to Bahrain.
In the 2007 tournament, Indonesia served as one of four Southeast Asian co-hosts and was eliminate in the first round. Indonesia Football History.
ASEAN Football Championship
Indonesia has reached the finals of the ASEAN Football Championship on six occasions (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016, and 2020) although never successfully lift the trophy. The team’s claim to regional titles came at the 1987 and 1991 Southeast Asian Games.
After the Withe era, the failure to meet the ASEAN target has been attribute to Indonesia’s “revolving door” in terms of team managers. Over the course of two years, Indonesia’s manager was replace by Kolyo by local coach Benny Dolo, who was sack in 2010. The post of head coach was then held by Alfred Riddle who failed to lift any trophy. And was replace by the Indonesia coach in July 2011. Indonesia Football History.
Main History
The 1998 Tiger Cup saw a group stage match between Thailand and Indonesia. In which both teams had already qualified for the semi-finals. But were also aware that the winner would face hosts Vietnam. Indonesia’s Mersid Effendi deliberately kicked the ball into Indonesia’s own goal as the Thailand attacker ran towards the ball. FIFA fined both teams $40,000 for “violating the spirit of the game”. While Effendi was banne from the international association football for life. Indonesia then lost to Singapore in the semi-finals. For more details click here