Patrick Kluiver Comes, 2026 World Cup Qualification Challenges Await

Patrick Kluivert officially signed a contract to become the coach of the Indonesian national team (doc. PSSI).

PSSI officially appointed Patrick Kluivert as the new coach of the Indonesian National Team. The Dutch coach was contracted for two years from 2025 to 2027 with the option of contract extension.

While training the Garuda Squad, Kluivert will be assisted by a number of assistant coaches from the Netherlands, such as Alex Pastoor and Denny Landzaat. In addition, there will be two Indonesian local coaches who will become assistant coaches.

Kluiver is planned to come to Indonesia on Saturday, January 11, 2025, and the next day it will be officially introduced to the public.

The 48-year-old coach has been waiting for a tough task with the Garuda Squad in the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian Zone.

He will make his debut when the Indonesian national team against Australia at the Sydney Football Stadium on March 20, 2025.

Then, his work continued when he hosted Bahrain at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, on March 25, 2025.

The match against Bahrain will be his first journey to lead the Indonesian national team at home.

Kluivert is a legend of the Dutch National Team. In his era, he was De Oranje's best striker as well as a number of top European clubs, such as Ajax Amsterdam, AC Milan, Barcelona, CF Valencia, Newcastle United, PSV, and Lille.

After retiring as a player in 2008, the coach who was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, July 1, 1976, immediately started his career as a coach.

He started as assistant coach at AZ Alkmaar, NEC Nigmegen, Brisbane Roar. Furthermore, he became Jong Twenty coach and won the title.

Kluivert was also assistant coach of Louis van Gaal in the Dutch National Team which was ranked third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In 2015, Kluivert was appointed head coach of the Curacao National Team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2017 Caribbean Cup Qualifiers.

Other experiences include serving as Director of Paris Saint-Germain Sports and Barcelona academy, coaching the Ajax A1 (U-19) team, as well as beinganitoko Seedorf's assistant to the Cameroon National Team.

Prior to Indonesia, he was the coach of a Turkish club, Adana Demirspor, who was the only professional club he was good at. In addition, Kluivert has also served as Director of the Barcelona Academy.

Meanwhile, in addition to the two 2026 World Cup Qualification matches, Kluiver also has two other parties in the event with the Indonesian national team.

The Garuda squad is scheduled to host China on June 5, 2025, then continues to travel to Japan on June 10, 2025 to close the Third Round of 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

Kluivert is targeted to bring the Indonesian national team through to the 2026 World Cup finals by ending the Third Round in the top two. Or, at least bringing the Garuda Squad to the Fourth Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification by occupying the third or fourth steps of the final standings.