The Cerebral Palsy Indonesia Football National Team Competes For Tickets To The 2026 World Cup

SOLO - The national team of Indonesian cerebral football is ready to compete with six teams from seven countries in the 2025 Asia-Oceania Cup IFCPF event in Solo City from Sunday, November 16, 2025 to Saturday, November 22, 2025. The competition is clearly not easy for Indonesia because only two finalist teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

Indonesia competes with the leading teams of Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea as well as fellow Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Thailand teams to be the best in the Asia-Oceania region.

They are ready to compete for two automatic qualifying tickets to the Cerebral Palsy World Cup or IFCPF World Cup 2026 which will be held in the United States.

It's just not an easy matter for the hosts to make achievements that were held at the Sriwedari Stadium and UNS Stadium which became the main venue for the match.

Meanwhile, the West City Field is only a training venue. Moreover, Indonesia's ranking is still far below Iran, which has the status of defending champion IFCPF World Cup 2024. Likewise, Australia, which is Indonesia's first opponent in Group A, has the number 12 in the world.

Iran itself is the main seed in this event. They are in Group B with South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. Meanwhile, Australia is the second seed and occupies Group A. Australia is not only competing with the host Indonesia but also Japan.

The coach of the Indonesian national team, Yanuar Dhuma Ardiyanto, expressed his team's readiness to face this championship. Although targeting to enter the top four positions, Yanuar is ready to compete for tickets to the World Cup.

According to him, Yahya Henna et al. have been making independent preparations since August and conducting training camps in Solo since early October.

"Australia is definitely a strong team. The players have a lot of experience in cerebral football. They have participated in this event longer than Indonesia and often competed at the top level," Yanuar said in a press statement in Solo, Friday, November 14, 2025.

"But we are ready to participate in this championship. We also have a strategy to anticipate Australian games, especially against high-position players," said Yanuar, who prepared the team to compete in the 2025 ASEAN Para Games in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Australia, which is more favored, still does not underestimate Indonesia. Despite being ranked much higher in the world, Australian coach Kai Lambert said it would not affect the match.

Lammert has also prepared a team to face the host by analyzing the Indonesian game from several videos when appearing at the ASEAN Para Games.

"Raking is not important in this event because it took several years to train a team. I've seen in several videos that Indonesia has done spectacular things," said Lambert.

"I respect Indonesia. So we will see the final result of this match," said Lambert, who said he was happy that this championship was held in Indonesia because his team did not need to travel far to Europe or the United States. Because the cerebral football championships are mostly held on the two continents.

"I am happy that Indonesia is the host. So far, my players have always traveled far because they competed in Europe or the United States," he said.

Responding to the implementation of the championships throughout Asia and Oceania, Rima Ferdianto as Chair of the Organizing Committee Indonesia IFCPF Asia-Oceania Cup 2025, thanked the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora) for their support so that Indonesia could host the championship.

"We give our highest appreciation to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, especially Mr. Erick Thohir as the new Menpora, for facilitating everything needed to hold this championship," said Rima.

"We hope that all matches can run smoothly, all contingents get a positive impression while competing in Indonesia and of course we as citizens hope that Indonesia can achieve optimally," he said.

According to Rima, this championship is a qualifying round for two tickets to the World Cup.

IFCPF as the world's cerebral football federation ensures that this event is ready to be held at the Sriwedari Stadium in Solo and the UNS Solo Stadium. IFCPF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ashleyanis, is optimistic that Indonesia can succeed in holding this event.

"This event is the third event we will do this year. Previously we held the European Championship in England and the Copa America in Uruguay, and now the third in Indonesia. We expect that the championship in Indonesia will run optimally," said fire.