Attending World Cup, U17 Indonesia receives additional target

After qualifying for the U17 World Cup, the Indonesian Football Federation wants their team to reach the top four in Asia.

U17 Indonesia is the leading team in Southeast Asia at the U17 World Cup.

"We have achieved our goal of qualifying for the World Cup. Of course, the team cannot be complacent. We need to improve our performance. The last time Indonesia finished fourth at the U17 Asian Cup was in 1990," said Erick Thohir, president of the Indonesian Football Federation, assigning the task to the home team.

Indonesia U17 played excellently at the 2025 AFC U17 Championship. The team from the archipelago defeated Korea U17, Yemen U17 and Afghanistan U17 to top Group C, becoming the only representative of Southeast Asia to advance from the group stage. At the same time, Indonesia U17 won the right to participate in the U17 World Cup.

However, the team from the archipelago does not want to stop there. Coach Nova Arianto's team is aiming for the semi-finals. To do this, they must overcome U17 North Korea. CNN Indonesia reported that coach Nova Arianto had his players practice penalty kicks to prepare for a draw scenario.

"The quarter-final match was definitely difficult. We saw defending champions Japan lose in the penalty shootout. I don't want to put pressure on the team. Thanks to the coaching staff and the players. They prepared very well," said Indonesian Football Federation president Erick Thohir.

At the 2025 AFC U17 Championship, Indonesia will participate with a squad consisting mainly of local players. The team of the archipelago nation has only one player born in Europe, the rest are trained in domestic football.

A surprise victory thanks to a last-minute penalty against South Korea opened up the opportunity for Indonesia U17 to qualify for the World Cup in a group considered favorable. In the remaining two matches, they continued to win against Yemen U17 and Afghanistan U17.

Meanwhile, U17 North Korea ranked second in Group D. The East Asian team did not lose any matches (won 1 match, drew 2 matches).

Source: https://znews.vn/du-world-cup-u17-indonesia-nhan-them-chi-tieu-post1545495.html