Kaleidoscope 2024: The Dynamics Of The Indonesian National Team's Appearance To The Excitement Of League 1 Travel

JAKARTA - The year 2024 is a dynamic moment and full of surprises for the world of national football.

The moment of appearance rose and fell until a big surprise made by the Indonesian National Team occurred this year. In addition, a number of interesting notes also occurred in the domestic competition, Liga 1.

What are the interesting moments that occur throughout 2024 in Indonesian football, both the National Team and domestic matches? The following is a summary of the 2024 national football kaleidoscope.

JANUARY

In early 2024, slick records came from the Indonesian national team. For the first time in history, the Garuda Squad qualified for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup.

This year's Asian Cup is an edition of 2023, but the event, which is planned for July-August 2023, will shift to January 2024.

On this occasion, the Indonesian national team qualified for the last 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar.

Joined in Group F with Iraq, Japan, and Vietnam, the Indonesian national team qualified with the status of one of the best third places.

Shin Tae-yong's team were ranked third with three points, as a result of losing 1-3 to Iraq, winning 1-0 over Vietnam and losing 1-3 to Japan.

Unfortunately, even though they managed to record a slick score by qualifying for the first time from the knockout stages of the Asian Cup, the Indonesian national team was unable to go further.

In the round of 16, the Garuda squad was bombarded with four goals without reply against Australia and had to lift the suitcase.

MARCH

In March 2024, the Indonesian national team again made a pretty good record. The reason is, during this period the Garuda Squad opened its hope to qualify for the Third Round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualification.

The opportunity opened after the Indonesian national team managed to conquer Vietnam twice in a row in home and away matches.

In the match at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), March 21, 2024, the Indonesian national team managed to beat Vietnam with a score of 1-0 in front of more than 60 thousand supporters.

Vietnam received the bitterness again when holding the home match on March 26, 2024. In front of 27 thousand supporters themselves, Vietnam again lost 0-3 to the Indonesian national team.

Thanks to two victories over Vietnam, the Indonesian national team, which previously filled the position of caretaker of Group F, then moved up to the runner-up position with seven points.

This situation widens the opportunity for the Garuda Squad to qualify for the Third Round of 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

Still in the same month, the journey of the domestic Liga 1 competition also brought a surprise.

This year, for the first time, a team from Papua, PSBS Biak, has also enlivened the competition at the top of the Indonesian football competition.

PSBS Biak finally successfully promoted to Liga 1 after winning the 2023/2024 Liga 2 title.

This assurance was secured by PSBS Biak after defeating Semen Padang 6-0 on aggregate.

APRIL

In this period another surprise was made by the Indonesian National Team, but this time it was from the U-23 group. Indonesia U-23 successfully shook Asia.

Joined in Group A with the hosts Qatar, Australia, and Jordan, Indonesia U-23 is predicted to become months when they play the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup.

However, in fact, proud achievements were made by Garuda Muda. With the status of a debutant team, they actually managed to secure the runners-up positions in Group A and advanced far to the semifinals.

This is clearly an extraordinary history for Indonesia in the U-23 Asian Cup.

When appearing in the quarter-finals, the U-23 Indonesian national team had to face a strong team, South Korea.

Although on paper it is not seeded, Indonesia U-23 again presents a surprise by getting rid of the Olympic subscription team.

In the match which was held on April 25, 2024, South Korea had to give up a score of 10-11 in a penalty shootout drama after drawing 2-2 until extra time.

Stepping on one leg in the semifinals, Indonesia U-23 is getting closer to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Unfortunately, that hope is running low after losing 0-2 to Uzbekistan in the top four.

Then, in the race for third place, aka the last route to the Olympics, Garuda Muda was forced to surrender from Iraq 1-2.

Even so, there is still one way for Indonesia U-23 to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics, through the playoffs for the last ticket the following month.

Shifting to domestic competitions, in April 2024 it will be a difficult time for Borneo FC. Pesut Etam successfully won the 2023/2024 regular season title.

In 34 matches, Borneo FC collected 70 points from 21 wins, seven draws, and six defeats.

The success of winning this regular title is an entertainer for Borneo who failed to win the Championship Series title after losing 2-4 on aggregate to Madura United.

Meanwhile, Persib Bandung also does not want to be left behind in making good records this month.

Maung Bandung successfully emerged as the 2023/2024 League 1 Championship Series champion after winning 6-1 on Madura United in the final.

MAY

Indonesia U-23's opportunity to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics is still a little open in May 2024. The condition is that they must participate in the inter-confederation playoffs.

Held on May 9, 2024, Indonesia U-23 must face Guinea, which is the representative of Africa.

However, on this last path, Indonesia U-23's opportunity to compete in the 2024 Olympics ran aground.

The last chance was missed because against Guinea, Young Garuda lost with a narrow score of 0-1.

JUNE

Mid-year is an event for the Indonesian National Team to continue their achievements because for the first time in history they were able to advance to the Third Round of World Cup Qualification.

The success of securing this place in the Third Round was achieved after the second round of the Garuda Squad finished as runners-up in Group F with a collection of 10 points.

In the last match of the Second Round, Indonesia won the competition with Vietnam to compete for the runners-up position in Group F.

Not only did he qualify for the follow-up round, this status also ensured that the Indonesian national team passed the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, at the level of the Indonesian U-20 National Team, they were unable to do much when appearing at the 2024 Toulon Tournament.

Joined by Ukraine U-23, Panama U-23, Italy U-21, and Japan U-19, Indonesia U-20 was only able to exit as caretaker of Group B with four defeats.

JULY

Early July 2024 became the moment of the initial struggle for the U-16 Indonesian National Team which completed the 2024 ASEAN U-16 Boys Championship (AFF Cup). Entering Group A, Indonesia U-16 managed to get through the group stage with the status of a champion.

In the semifinals, Indonesia U-16 had to face Australia. After going through a tough struggle because they had to appear with 10 players, Indonesia's efforts ran aground after losing 3-5 to Australia.

Indonesia U-16's failure in this event was then paid for by the success of Indonesia U-19 which also survived at the 2024 ASEAN U-19 Boys Championship in the same month.

Indonesia U-19 stepped into the final and won the tournament by beating Thailand 1-0.

The success of Indonesia U-19 is also a presentation of the first trophy at the national team level in 2024.

AUGUST

Although there is no agenda for the Indonesian national team in August 2024, the journey of football in the country does not stop.

The reason is, in August 2024, Liga 1 2024/2025 will start rolling again, precisely on August 9, 2024, with the opening of the Persib Bandung vs PSBS Biak match.

Prior to the start of Liga 1 2024/2025, Indonesian football lovers were also entertained by a pre-season tournament titled the President's Cup.

The final which was held on August 5, 2024 or a few days before the kick-off of Liga 1 2024/2025, Arema FC won, defending the previous season's title.

SEPTEMBER

In September 2024, the enthusiasm of Indonesian football lovers was again volatile. The reason is, the Indonesian National Team succeeded in making a big surprise in the first two matches of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Third Round.

Joined in Group C with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and China, Indonesia managed to pick up points in the first match. Facing Saudi Arabia at home on September 6, 2024, the Indonesian national team came home with points after holding a 1-1 draw.

In the second match, Indonesia held Australia to a 0-0 draw when appearing at SUGBK on September 10, 2024.

The two points in this early match made the optimism of players and supporters increase to look at the 2026 World Cup.

Apart from the Senior National Team, good news also came from Indonesia U-20 who qualified for the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup with the status of Group F winners.

Joined by Yemen, Maldives, and Timor Leste in the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup Qualification, Indonesia won seven points as a result of the victory over the 4-0 Maldives, Timor Leste 3-1, and the 1-1 draw against Yemen.

OKTOBER

After shining enough in the previous month, October 2024 became an unsatisfactory moment for the Indonesian National Team which was undergoing the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification.

The Garuda squad did not get maximum results on the third and fourth matchdays.

In this period, Indonesia was only able to hold back the 2-2 Bahrain draw and lost the first qualification with a score of 1-2 against China.

However, there is good news coming from Indonesia U-17. They qualified for the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup.

This assurance was obtained after Indonesia U-17 became runners-up in Group G qualification with seven points after defeating the hosts Kuwait 1-0 and North Mariana 10-0 and drawing 0-0 against Australia.

NOVEMBER

History for the Indonesian National Team was created in November 2024. The Garuda squad set a record for being the Southeast Asian team which won the highest points in the Third Round of 2026 World Cup Qualifiers with six points until the sixth matchday.

Indonesia suffered defeat to Japan with a score of 0-4 in SUGBK on the fifth matchday which was quite a crushing blow.

On the next agenda, they actually rose by crushing Saudi Arabia 2-0. This situation re-emerged enthusiasm because of the position in the standings which rose to third place.

In addition, towards the end of the year the second trophy came from the Indonesian Futsal National Team. They won the 2024 AFF Futsal Cup which is also the second title.

This assurance was achieved by the Indonesian Futsal National Team after defeating Vietnam 2-0 in the final. Previously in the semifinals, they were able to beat the hosts Thailand with five goals without reply.

DECEMBER

Closing the end of the year, sweet nicks were achieved again in the midst of the struggle of the Indonesian national team towards the 2026 World Cup. The third trophy was present from the Indonesian Women's National Team.

Appearing at the AFF Women's Cup 2024 (Women's AFF Cup) which is also the AFC Women's Championship 2025 Qualification event, Garuda Pertiwi successfully presented the championship trophy.

The victory was achieved after defeating Cambodia 3-1 in the final which was held on December 5, 2024.