The Indonesian national team aims beyond the 2030 World Cup

The Indonesian Football Association has assigned the new head coach the objective of securing a spot in the 2030 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, yet according to specialists, there remains a more crucial mission than merely appearing at the planet’s largest football festival.

According to Bola (an Indonesian media outlet), Indonesia’s progress to the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers has inspired the PSSI leadership to nurture an even bigger ambition: to appear in the 2030 World Cup finals. This is a goal considered reasonable, as PSSI believes the current Indonesian team has the capability to compete with many regional and continental rivals.

However, the reality shows that by 2030, many key players will have passed their peak performance years. Most current players can still play important roles in the qualifiers, but maintaining form on the World Cup stage will be a significant challenge.

Within five years, goalkeepers Maarten Paes, Emil Audero, and Nadeo Argawinata will all be over 30. A similar situation applies to several other key players like Jordi Amat, Kevin Diks, Calvin Verdonk, Shayne Pattynama, Sandy Walsh, Thom Haye, Joey Pelupessy, and Ragnar Oratmangoen.

Football expert Toni Ho believes the 2026 World Cup is truly the “golden” opportunity for Indonesia to realize its dream of World Cup participation, as the current squad is at its peak in terms of skill.

Toni Ho commented: “In fact, the best chance for Indonesia to qualify for the World Cup is in 2026, when many players are at their peak. Looking towards the 2030 World Cup, most players will be over 30, making competition in Saudi Arabia extremely tough.”

The expert from Makassar suggests that PSSI should start building a successor squad for the national team if they want to pursue long-term goals. He emphasized: “Suppose Indonesia qualifies for the 2030 World Cup but the player quality is insufficient, the team could easily become a ‘point collector.’ This is a heavy responsibility for PSSI in finding and training new players of adequate caliber.”

The former coach of PSM Makassar and Persipura Jayapura argues that PSSI should not limit its ambition to just qualifying for the 2030 World Cup. Toni Ho concluded: “The goal to reach the 2030 World Cup is positive. But more importantly, PSSI must build a team capable of sustaining stability and long-term competitiveness at the highest level. Indonesia should not just appear once at the World Cup and then disappear for many years afterwards.”