Indonesia U-23 Vs Philippines Prediction In The First Match Of The 2025 SEA Games: Heavy Test Of Young Garuda

JAKARTA - The U-23 Indonesian national team will face the Philippines in the group stage of the 2025 SEA Games football match on Monday, December 8, 2025, WIB night. The match is predicted to be a tough test for the Garuda Squad.

The meeting between the Indonesian U-23 and the Philippines national teams will take place at the 700th Anniversary Stadium. This match is the first appearance for the Red and White Team, while for the Philippines this is the second match.

The Azkals previously won 2-0 over Myanmar. Three points from that match became a positive capital that made Garrathturson and his team excited to face the U-23 Indonesian national team.

On the other hand, the Garuda Muda squad is no less optimistic. Armed with ambitions to defend gold medals, a number of players such as Cahya Supriadi, Kadek Arel, Dony Tri Pamungkas, Rayhan Hannan, Toni Firmansyah, Hokky Caraka, and Jens Raven will be the mainstays of Indra Sjafri.

The team's strength is also increasingly solid with the presence of three players playing from Europe, namely Ivar Jenner, Dion Markx, and Mauro Zijlstra. The composition of the squad that will be the determinant of Indonesia U-23's steps in the soccer sport at the 33rd SEA Games.

With a mature team composition, the U-23 Indonesian national team is predicted to dominate possession against the Philippines. Meanwhile, The Azkals youth team has the potential to play a quick counter-attack.

The speed with which Javier Mariona and his friends built the attack was seen when they beat Myanmar. Even though at that time they dominated the match, the Philippines had already featured a fast game.

However, when facing Indonesia U-23, the Philippines seems to prefer to implement a defensive scheme as happened in the central U-23 AFF Cup this year.

If Indra Sjafri's team is able to dominate possession, they just need to focus on scoring to win the game.

In the 2025 AFF U-23 Cup, Indonesia U-23 only won 1-0 over the Philippines. This event can clearly be a good opportunity for Indra Sjafri's team to continue the positive trend with a bigger goal record.