Sumardji confirms: Elkan Baggott is in the Indonesian national team squad in the FIFA Series

Indonesian national team defender Elkan Baggot during training at the national team TC which took place in Antalya, Turkey, Thursday (4/1/2023). ANTARA/HO-PSSI/am.

JAKARTA - Chairman of the National Team Body (BTN) Sumardji confirmed that defender Elkan Baggott will return to strengthen the Indonesian National Team.

Sumardji said Baggott would meet the call of the new coach of the Indonesian national team, John Herdman, who will soon announce his first squad since being appointed in January.

"Yes," said Sumardji when contacted by ANTARA in Jakarta, Sunday, March 8, when asked about the opportunity for Elkan Baggott to strengthen the Indonesian national team at the 2026 FIFA Series.

The Garuda squad is scheduled to appear in the 2026 FIFA Series tournament which will be held at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta, at the end of March.

For Baggott, this opportunity is a moment to return to the Indonesian national team after being absent for quite some time. He last appeared with the Red and White team at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.

At that time, Indonesia was eliminated in the 16th round after losing 0-4 to the Australian National Team in January 2024.

The match was Baggott's last appearance with the Indonesian national team. After that, he did not appear in 14 Indonesian matches in the rest of Shin Tae-yong's coaching period.

When the position of coach was then held by Patrick Kluivert, the player who is now playing for Ipswich Town has also not received a call-up in the eight matches led by the Dutch coach.

At the 2026 FIFA Series, Indonesia as the host will play the first match against the Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team on March 27 at 20.00 WIB.

On the same day, two other participants, namely the Bulgaria national football team and the Solomon Islands national football team will compete at 15.30 WIB.

The winner of both matches will advance to the final match which will be held on March 30 at 20.00 WIB. Meanwhile, the two losing teams will compete first on the same day at 15.30 WIB.