The history of the Indonesia national football team officially dates back to their first international in 1934. The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI), which governs the team. Prior to Indonesian independence, in the period 1921–1945, the national team used the name Dutch East Indies and was organized by the Dutch East Indies Football Union (NIVU). The team later became a member of the football international governing bodies FIFA in 1928 and participated at the 1938 FIFA World Cup in France as the first Asian country to qualify for the final round of the competition. After the country gained independence, they then rejoined FIFA in 1952 and co-founded AFC in 1954. As of August 2024, Indonesia has qualified for the FIFA World Cup once and the AFC Asian Cups six times (including automatic qualification as co-hosts in 2007).
Men's team
1921–1938: Colonization era
Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies was the national team that represented the territory of present-day Indonesia during the Dutch colonial era. The team was organized by the Dutch East Indies Football Union (NIVU), which became a member of FIFA on 24 May 1924. The first recorded unofficial match of the Dutch East Indies was against Singapore on 28 March 1921 in Batavia, which ended in a 1–0 win. This was followed by matches in August 1928 against Australia (2–1 win) and in 1930 against a team from Shanghai, China (4–4 draw).
On 19 April 1930, Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was founded with Soeratin Sosrosoegondo as the first leader, after most all non-national organizations in the country such as VIJ Jakarta, BIVB Bandung, PSM Mataram, IVBM Magelang, VVB Solo, MVB Madiun, and SIVB Surabaya gathered at a meeting in Soerakarta and agreed to form the second national football organization in order to resist the Dutch control of the colonies by gathering all the footballers to play under PSSI.
In 1934, a team from Java represented the Dutch East Indies in the Far Eastern Games in Manila, Philippines. The team managed to beat Japan 7–1 in the first match, but the last two matches ended in defeat, 0–2 to China and 2–3 to the Philippines, resulting in the team finishing second in the tournament. These matches are considered by World Football Elo Ratings to be the first matches involving the Indonesia national team. 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.
1938–1945: Asia's first World Cup participant
Dutch East Indies made its World Cup debut during the 1938 edition in France. The team advanced to the final round without playing any qualifying matches. Japan, who were drawn in Group 12 of the qualifying round with the Dutch East Indies, decided to withdraw from the competition. The Dutch East Indies were then ordered by FIFA to carry out a play-off match against one of the Group 11 participants, the United 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.
In the final round, the Dutch East Indies were coached by Johan 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 by Hungary 0–6. This match took place on 5 June 1938 at the Stade 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 by Italy 2–4 in the final.
1945–1984: Independence era
After the Second World War, followed by the Indonesian 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 the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). The team's first official match under the name Indonesia was on 5 March 1951 at the Asian Games, where they lost 0–3 by the host nation India at the National Stadium, New Delhi.
Indonesia qualified for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. 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 the Soviet Union who had previously defeated the United 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.
In 1957, Indonesia dominated the qualifying round of the 1958 World Cup. The team defeated China in the first round, then subsequently refused to play its next opponents, Israel, for political reasons. Indonesian player Rusli Ramang became the top scorer at the end of the competition with 4 goals.
Indonesia won the bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games where the team beat India 4–1 in the third-place match. The team also drew 2–2 with East Germany in a friendly match. Indonesia won Merdeka Tournament trophy on three occasions (1961, 1962 and 1969). The team were also champions of the 1968 King's Cup. Indonesia returned to World Cup qualification rounds in 1974 as the team was eliminated in the first round, with only one win from six matches, against New Zealand. During the qualification round of 1978 World Cup, Indonesia won a single of four matches, against the host team, Singapore. Four years later, in 1982, Indonesia won two World Cup qualifying matches, over Chinese Taipei and Australia.
1985–1995: Renaissance of Indonesia football The 1986 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. The team reached the semi-final of the 1986 Asian Games after beating the United Arab Emirates in the quarter-finals. Indonesia then lost to host South Korea in the semi-finals and lost to Kuwait in the bronze medal match.
A milestone during this era was the gold medal victory at the Southeast Asian Games in both 1987 and 1991. In 1987, Indonesia beat Malaysia 1–0; while in 1991, it beat Thailand in a penalty shoot-out. In the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, the Indonesian team lost in the first round, with only one win against Hong Kong, three draws and two defeats. The team also only managed a single victory against Vietnam in the 1994 World Cup qualification round.
1995–2016: Continental appearances
1996 AFC Asian Cup Indonesia's first appearance in the AFC Asian Cup was against United Arab Emirates in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. During the tournament, Indonesia only scored a single point from a 2–2 draw against Kuwait in the first round.
1998 Tiger Cup In the final group stage match of the 1998 Tiger Cup, Indonesia faced Thailand while the both teams already through to the semi-finals, but were also aware that the winner would have to face hosts Vietnam. Indonesia's Mursyid Effendi deliberately kicked the ball into Indonesia's own goal as Thailand's attacker ran towards the ball. 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; minnows Singapore (who they ironically lost 2–1 to) in the semi-finals.
2000 AFC Asian Cup The team's second appearance in the Asian Cup was in Lebanon in the 2000 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 the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, beating Qatar 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 host China and 1–3 to Bahrain.
2004 AFC Asian Cup Indonesia then qualified for their third successful tournament in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup being grouped with China, Qatar, and Bahrain with them winning the only match against Qatar in a 2–1 victory but crashed out of the tournament with only three points.
2007 AFC Asian Cup
The 2007 AFC Asian Cup saw Indonesia co-hosting the tournament with Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam 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 from Budi Sudarsono and Bambang Pamungkas to secure a 2–1 win. However, in the following two matches, Indonesia suffered a 2–1 defeat to Saudi Arabia and narrowly losing to South Korea 1–0 which Indonesia failed to qualified to the knockout stage of the tournament.
AFF Championship Indonesia reached the finals of AFF 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 the Southeast Asian Games of 1987 and 1991.
After the Peter 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 coach Benny Dollo who was in turn sacked in 2010. The head coach position was then held by Alfred Riedl who failed to lift any cups and in July 2011 was then replaced by Wim Rijsbergen.
2012–2016: Suspensions In March 2012, PSSI received a warning for the divided state of Indonesian football, whereby two separate leagues existed: the rebel Indonesia Super League (ISL), which isn't recognized by PSSI or FIFA, and the Indonesia 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. 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. 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 the FIFA Emergency Committee for suspension. 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 the 2012 AFF Championship.