Mees Hilgers Removed From The Indonesian National Team Squad List, PSSI Calls The Club Situation A Consideration

Mees Hilgers was given time to solve the problem with FC Twenty so he was not called up by the Indonesian national team (Instagram/@meeshilgerss).

JAKARTA - Mees Hilgers was crossed out of the list of players from the Indonesian national team to appear in the Fourth Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification. Regarding that, PSSI said that the Hilgers situation at his club was taken into consideration.

Regarding Hilgers' condition in the Indonesian national team, this was conveyed by PSSI Executive Committee (Exco) member Arya Sinulingga. He explained that the issue of Mees with FC Twente club was a factor that prevented the centre-back from being included in the list of players against Saudi Arabia and Iraq chosen by Patrick Kluivert.

"It's definitely because Mees (Hilgers) is now concentrating on his club, we even know outside, where he competed, the media friends also asked why it wasn't played."

"In fact, we know the quality is very good there. We all know why, because of the club's contract problems."

"So, we don't want him to lose concentration because the concentration in football is so reasonable that we give Mees time, give him space to concentrate on the problem," said Arya.

Mees Hilgers is still a FC Twenty player, but until now he has never been played. Not a technical problem, but an out-of-field issue.

The scene stems from Hilgers' failure to leave the transfer market earlier this season because the interested club failed to reach an agreement with FC Twenty.

Hilgers' position then had problems because the 24-year-old defender did not want to extend his contract with FC Twenty which will expire in June 2026.

Not wanting to lose the loss of Hilgers for free later this season, FC Twenty management then frozen Hilgers from the squad until he wanted to extend the contract.

Even without the presence of Mees Hilgers, the position of center-back in the Indonesian national team still has Jordi Amat, Rizki Ridho, Justin Hubner, Kevin Diks, and Jay Idzes who can be an option.