Indonesia

First Asian team in the FIFA World Cup (1934–1950s)

The matches involving sides from the Dutch East Indies (or Netherlands East Indies) were organised by the Nederlandsch Indische Voetbal Bond (NIVB), or its successor, the Nederlandsch Indische Voetbal Unie (NIVU). The matches that were run prior to the nation's independence in 1945 are not recognised by PSSI.

The first recorded match that involved a team from the Dutch East Indies was a contest against a Singapore national team on 28 March 1921. The match was played in Batavia and the Dutch East Indies won with a final score of 1–0. This was followed by matches against an Australian XI in August 1928 (2–1 victory) and a team from Shanghai two years later (4–4 draw).

In 1934, a team from Java represented the Dutch East Indies in the Far Eastern Games that was played in Manila. After defeating the Japanese, 7–1, in its first match, the next two matches ended in defeats (2–0 to China and 3–2 to the host nation) resulting in a second-place tournament finish for the Dutch East Indies. Although not recognized by PSSI, these matches are treated by the World Football Elo ratings as the first matches involving the Indonesian national side.

The Dutch East Indies were the first Asian team to participate in the 1938 FIFA World Cup in France when the team qualified for the 1938 tournament after Japan withdrew from the qualification heats. The 6–0 loss to Hungary, in the first round of the tournament in Reims, remains the nation's only appearance in the World Cup.

Independence (1950s–1984)

After the Second World War, followed by the Indonesian Revolution, a highlight of the football history of an independent Indonesian team occurred at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. The team forced the Soviet Union to a nil-all draw, then lost 0–4 in the replay match. This remains the country's only appearance in the Olympics.

In 1958, the team tasted its first World Cup action as Indonesia in the qualifying rounds. The team defeated China in the first round, then subsequently refused to play its next opponents, Israel, for political reasons.

Indonesia won the bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games where it beat India 4–1 in the third-place match. The team also drew 2–2 with East Germany in a friendly match.

The Indonesian team lifted the Merdeka Tournament trophy on three occasions (1961, 1962 and 1969). Indonesia were also champions of the 1968 King's Cup.

Indonesia returned to World Cup qualification competition in 1974; the team was eliminated in the first round, with only one win from six matches, against New Zealand. During the 1978 qualification heats, the Indonesian team won a single match out of four matches, against the host team, Singapore. Four years later, in 1982, Indonesia recorded two victories in qualifying matches, against Chinese Taipei and Australia.

Renaissance of Indonesia football (1985–1995)

The 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification round saw Indonesia advance from the first round with four wins, one draw, and one loss, eventually finishing at the top of its group. South Korea emerged victorious over Indonesia in the second round.

The team reached the semi-final of the 1986 Asian Games after beating United Arab Emirates in the quarter-finals. Indonesia then lost to host South Korea in the semi-finals and lost to Kuwait in the bronze medal match.

A milestone during this era was the gold medal victory at the Southeast Asian Games in both 1987 and 1991. In 1987, Indonesia beat Malaysia 1–0; while in 1991, it beat Thailand in a penalty shoot-out.

In the 1990 qualification, the team lost in the first round, with only one win against Hong Kong, three draws and two defeats. The team also only managed a single victory against Vietnam in the 1994 qualification round.

Back-to-back AFC Asian Cup appearance (1995–2016)

1996 AFC Asian Cup

Indonesia's first appearance in the AFC Asian Cup was against United Arab Emirates in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. During the tournament, Indonesia only scored a single point from a 2–2 draw against Kuwait in the first round.

2000 AFC Asian Cup

The team's second appearance in the Asian Cup was in Lebanon in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup; again, the Indonesian team gained only one point from three games, and again, from a match against Kuwait that finished without a score from either side. Indonesia established a higher record in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, beating Qatar 2–1 to record the team's first-ever victory in the history of the tournament. The win was not enough for it to qualify for the second round, having fallen 0–5 to host China and 1–3 to Bahrain.

2004 AFC Asian Cup

Indonesia then qualified for their third successful tournament in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup being grouped with China, Qatar, and Bahrain with them winning the only match against Qatar in a 2–1 victory but crashed out of the tournament with only three points.

2007 AFC Asian Cup

The 2007 AFC Asian Cup saw Indonesia co-hosting the tournament with Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam becoming the first time in the AFC Asian Cup history that four countries co-hosted the competition. In the opening match of the tournament, Indonesia faces Bahrain with goals coming from Budi Sudarsono and Bambang Pamungkas to secure a 2–1 win. However, in the following two matches, Indonesia suffered a 2–1 defeat to Saudi Arabia and narrowly losing to South Korea 1–0 which Indonesia failed to qualified to the knockout stage of the tournament.

AFF Championship

Indonesia reached the finals of AFF Championship on six occasions (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016, and 2020), albeit never managing to lift the trophy victoriously. The team's claim of regional titles came in the Southeast Asian Games of 1987 and 1991.

After the Peter Withe era, the inability to fulfill the ASEAN target has been cited as the reason for Indonesia's "revolving door" in terms of team managers. Over two years, Indonesia's manager changed from Kolev to local coach Benny Dollo who was in turn sacked in 2010. The head coach position was then held by Alfred Riedl who failed to lift any cups and in July 2011 was then replaced by Wim Rijsbergen.

Suspensions (2012 and 2015–2016)

In March 2012, PSSI received a warning for the divided state of Indonesian football, whereby two separate leagues existed: the rebel Super League (ISL), which isn't recognized by PSSI or FIFA, and the Premier League (IPL). The National Sports Committee (KONI) encouraged PSSI to work collaboratively with Indonesian Football Savior Committee (KPSI) officials to rectify the situation but KONI chairman Tono Suratman stated in March 2012 that KONI would take over the beleaguered PSSI if matters are not improved. FIFA did not state whether Indonesia would face suspension, but on 20 March 2012, FIFA made an announcement. In the lead-up to 20 March 2012, PSSI struggled to resolve the situation and looked to its annual congress for a final solution. PSSI was given until 15 June 2012 to settle the issues at stake, notably the control of the breakaway league; failing this, the case was to be referred to the FIFA Emergency Committee for suspension. FIFA eventually set a new 1 December 2012 deadline. In the two weeks preceding the deadline, three out of four PSSI representatives withdrew from the joint committee, citing frustrations in dealing with KPSI representatives. However, FIFA stated that it would only issue a punishment to Indonesian football after the Indonesian national squad finished its involvement in the 2012 AFF Championship.

In 2013, the president of PSSI Djohar Arifin Husin signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with La Nyalla Matalitti (KPSI-PSSI) that was initiated by FIFA and the AFC through the Asian Football Confederation's Task Force. Since then, the control of Indonesia Super League was taken by the Joint committee to remain manageable by PT Liga Indonesia until the establishment of a new professional competition by the committee. This means the Indonesian players from ISL were able to play and join the national team. The PSSI called players from both football leagues, ISL and IPL to fortify the national team for the Asian Cup qualifier of 2015. On 7 January 2013, PSSI announced a list of 51 players from both sides of football leagues regardless of whether players from the breakaway Indonesia Super League (ISL) would make an appearance, allegedly ISL clubs were reluctant to release players because they doubted Djohar's leadership.

On 18 March 2013, PSSI held a congress at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both parties, PSSI and KPSI (breakaway group) solved their differences in four contentious points; such as; Reunification of two leagues; Revision of the PSSI Statutes; Reinstatement of the four expelled PSSI Executive Committee members La Nyalla Mattalitti, Roberto Rouw, Erwin Dwi Budiawan, and Toni Apriliani; and agreement of all parties to the Memorandum of Understanding from 7 June 2012 on the list of delegates to the PSSI Congress based on the list of the Solo Congress of July 2011. The new PSSI called 58 players from both sides leagues (ISL and IPL) for the national squad. Rahmad Darmawan returned as the caretaker coach for the senior team and his friend, Jacksen F. Tiago was also in charge as the assistant coach. Both Rahmat and Jaksen trimmed the 58 players initially called for national training to 28. The list would then be trimmed again to just 23 players for the Saudi Arabia match. Victor Igbonefo, Greg Nwokolo and Sergio van Dijk the three naturalised players were on the final list. On 23 March 2013, Indonesia was defeated 1–2 by Saudi Arabia at home. Boaz Solossa gave Indonesia the first goal in their campaign for AFC Asian Cup qualification; the home team started with the goal in the sixth minute but the Saudi Side fought back with the equalizer from Yahya Al-Shehri in the 14th minute before Yousef Al-Salem the scored what turned out to be the winner on 56th minute.

The Indonesian Football Association was suspended by FIFA because of government interference in the Southeast Asian country's national league on 30 May 2015. The ban took effect immediately and meant that Indonesia would not be eligible to compete in the next round of qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup, starting less than two weeks later. FIFA took action against Indonesia following a row between the local government and the football association which has resulted in the cancellation of the domestic competition. The suspension was lifted at the 66th FIFA Congress. By then, hurried perpetration was done for Indonesia in order to get in touch for the upcoming 2016 AFF Championship where Indonesia eventually reached the final and once again fell to Thailand in process.

Rebuilding (2017–2019)

Some weeks after finishing as runners-up in the 2016 AFF Championship, PSSI held a congress on 8 January 2017 in an effort to sign Spanish coach, Luis Milla to handle their senior and U-22 team. Prior to the 2018 AFF Championship, Milla departed without any explanations, causing angers among Indonesian supporters. Indonesia crashed out from the group stage in 2018 AFF Championship led to the sacking of Bima Sakti. In order to prepare for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Indonesia signed Scottish coach Simon McMenemy with hope that his successful tenure with the Philippines could reinvigorate Indonesia's performance especially when Indonesia was grouped with three Southeast Asian rivals Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam alongside UAE. Indonesia lost all four matches including a 2–3 home defeat to Malaysia despite having taken a 2–1 lead prior followed by a home loss to Vietnam for the first time in any competitive tournaments. On 6 November 2019, PSSI decided to sack McMenemy over the national team's deteriorating performance. Indonesia traveled to Malaysia and lost 0–2 to its rival and was officially eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Shin Tae-yong era (2020–present)

Following the failure to qualify for the World Cup, PSSI appointed Shin Tae-yong as coach of Indonesia to reinvigorate the team for the upcoming 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification using the success of Park Hang-seo in Vietnam as evidence for their appointment.

Under the management of Shin Tae-yong, the majority of the senior team was reshuffled to include many young players of whom the majority were from the Indonesia national under-23 football team. Indonesia made it to the 2020 AFF Championship final with an average player age of 23.

2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification

In the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Indonesia defeated host and former Asian champions, Kuwait, whom they had not defeated in 42 years, 2–1, to the surprise of many people, the first official win by a Southeast Asian team against a West Asian host since 2004 (when Thailand beat Yemen 3–0 in Sana'a during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification), and was the first time in the history that a Southeast Asian team had won against a Persian Gulf team as the visitor. In the final match, Indonesia massively beat Nepal 7–0 at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. Boosted by the win, Indonesia qualified for the upcoming 2023 AFC Asian Cup after a 16-year absence. Indonesia would be drawn with the top AFC rank team, Japan, Iraq, and Southeast Asia rival, Vietnam.

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

On 19 June 2023, Indonesia hosted 2022 FIFA World Cup champions, Argentina in preparation for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. Indonesia massively played well holding the world's champion but a long strike from Leandro Paredes settled a 1–0 win right before halftime. In the second half, Cristian Romero scored a header to level it up to 2–0 for the Argentines.

Indonesia started the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification from the first round, as they convincingly defeated Brunei in a 12–0 aggregates.

In the second round, Indonesia were put in a group with the same two teams that were drawn with Indonesia too in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup, Iraq, and two Southeast Asia rivals, Vietnam, and Philippines. Indonesia has a bad start in the second round, as they were heavily defeated 5–1 against Iraq in Basra, and a mere draw against Philippines in Manila in the next match.

2023 AFC Asian Cup

Indonesia then started off 2024 playing two friendly matches against Libya at the Mardan Sports Complex in Turkey before flying off to Qatar for the last friendly match against Iran as the final preparation for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup tournament.

In the first match, Indonesia faced off against Iraq just after two months of facing each other, in a 1–3 loss. In the second match, Indonesia faced off against Southeast Asia rival Vietnam where captain, Asnawi Mangkualam converted a goal from the penalty spot to score the only goal in the match, it was the first time Indonesia defeated Vietnam after 7 years, as Indonesia gained 3 points. In the last group match, Indonesia lost 3–1 to the AFC top rank team, Japan.

Despite with two losses in the group stage, Indonesia qualified into Round of 16 by finishing as one of the four best third-place groups which was confirmed after another match in Group F between Kyrgyzstan and Oman ended in a draw. For the first time ever, Indonesia passed through to the knockout stage of the AFC Asian Cup since their first appearance in 1996 AFC Asian Cup. Indonesia faced against Australia in the Round of 16, but despite positive performance, the team's run ended with a 4–0 loss due to poor defending.

Triumph over Vietnam

At the continuation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, Indonesia managed to beat Vietnam again twice on 21 & 26 March, in a 1–0 on Jakarta and 3–0 on Hanoi victories respectively, the latter would be the first time since 2004 that Indonesia defeated Vietnam in their own home ground. Thus Indonesia climb up to the second place of the group with 7 points. The two victories also made Indonesia surpassed ASEAN rivals, Philippines and Malaysia in the FIFA ranking, the latter would be the first time Indonesia place above Malaysia in the FIFA ranking in 5 years.