Indonesia Drops Two Teams for the 2026 Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup

Srikandi Media Cup 2026 press conference (VOI/Cosmas Kopong Beda).

JAKARTA - Indonesia will send two teams to compete in the 2026 Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup, which will be attended by seven countries including Indonesia as the organizer of the women's football tournament for this age group.

The 2026 Srikandi Merdeka Cup will run from August 14-23, 2026 at the Supersoccer Arena, Kudus, Central Java. The six countries invited to the U-16 girls' football tournament are Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

The tournament, which was initiated by the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation and collaborated with the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), was the final series of the 2026 Women's Soccer Trilogy, following the successful MilkLife Soccer Challenge All Stars and Hydroplus Soccer League All Stars.

Program Director of the 2026 Srikandi Merdeka Cup, Teddy Tjahjono, said that this tournament is also a platform for the best talents from the tiered coaching to measure their ability at the international level.

"This is the beginning so we are trying with six invited countries. Actually, we originally also wanted to invite more, but because we want to send two teams, that's why we invited six countries for now," said Teddy in a press conference in Jakarta.

The majority of Indonesian players who will compete in the 2026 Srikandi Merdeka Cup are the result of monitoring from the Hydroplus Soccer League, which previously had gone through the coaching process at the MilkLife Soccer Challenge.

There are a total of 46 players who have been netted to strengthen the two teams. The two teams are Garuda Pertiwi under the command of Timo Scheunemann and Putri Nusantara which will be handled by Takumi Taniguchi.

Teddy further said that the decision to reduce the two teams was made because the potential of Indonesian women's youth players has started to increase.

"So, it will be very optimal if we give our daughters the opportunity to have international experience while they are young, get playing time, defend Indonesia, and be able to compete internationally in their own home," said Teddy.

Meanwhile, PSSI Executive Committee (Exco) member, Vivin Sungkono Cahyani, said that they had made various mature considerations to determine the countries invited to the event.

"The countries we invite are indeed focusing on nurturing their grassroots well so that in the Srikandi Merdeka Cup this is really balanced. The quality of the game is balanced and the competition will definitely be interesting," he said.

The commitment to build a women's youth football ecosystem has received support from Caffino as the title partner of the Srikandi Merdeka Cup.

Soegiono as the Business Unit Head of Coffee & Confectionary Savoria said that the training of young athletes requires consistency from all parties to produce a generation of female soccer players who are able to achieve internationally, such as the World Cup.

"We believe that the birth of an accomplished athlete does not only depend on proper coaching, but also requires continuous competition as a space for players to continue to develop," he said.

The draw for the 2026 Srikandi Media Cup group was held on July 23, 2026. Group A contains Garuda Pertiwi (Indonesia), Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia, while Group B will bring together Thailand, Singapore, Jordan, and Putri Nusantara (Indonesia).