From shattered World Cup dream to SEA Games exit: Indonesian football's complete failure in 2025

The latest blow came on Friday at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand.

Despite a 3-1 victory over Myanmar in their final group match, Indonesia's U22 squad were eliminated from the tournament. Finishing second in Group C with three points and a goal difference of +1, they missed out on the semi-final spot reserved for the best second-placed team by a single goal margin to Malaysia.

The early exit marks a sharp decline for the defending champions, who claimed the gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia after a dramatic final against Thailand.

The SEA Games exit concluded a string of failures that began on July 29.

Playing at home in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia fell 0-1 to Vietnam in the final of the ASEAN U23 Championship. A lone goal by Nguyen Cong Phuong in the 37th minute sealed the defeat, repeating their loss to Vietnam in the 2023 final, which was decided via a penalty shootout.

Indonesia (in white) during the 0-1 final loss to Vietnam in the ASEAN U23 Championship on July 29, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Hieu Luong

Just weeks later, on Sept. 9, Indonesia lost 0-1 to South Korea in the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers. The result meant they finished second in Group J behind South Korea, failing to qualify for the tournament.

This represented a significant downgrade for the team, which had qualified and finished fourth overall in the previous edition of the tournament.

Perhaps the most painful blow occurred in early October during the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, when back-to-back losses to Saudi Arabia (2-3) and Iraq (0-1) officially ended Indonesia's dream of reaching the world’s biggest international football tournament.

Indonesia (in red) lost 0-1 to Iraq in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers at the King Abdullah Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 11, 2025. Photo by Reuters

The string of failures highlighted the investment without return of Indonesian football.

The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) had invested heavily in naturalizing numerous European-born players and making the high-profile and controversial decision to replace coach Shin Tae-yong with Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert.

After the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup, Kluivert was sacked and the head coach position is still vacant at the moment.