PSSI: Indonesia Could Have Won AFF 2026 With Jay Idzes and Other Abroad Player Available
PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi believes the Indonesian national team could have won the 2026 AFF Championship had their overseas-based players been available for the tournament.
Indonesia were eliminated from the AFF 2026 Championship after being held to a 1-1 draw by Singapore in their final Group A match on Friday night at Jalan Besar Stadium.
The result left Indonesia third in the final Group A standings with seven points. Their failure to reach the semi-finals also extended the Garuda’s disappointing run at the AFF Championship following their group-stage exit in 2024.
On paper, Indonesia entered the 2026 tournament with a considerably stronger and more experienced squad than the team that competed in 2024 under former head coach Shin Tae-yong. At the time, Indonesia relied heavily on U-23 players such as Cahya Supriadi, Rayhan Hannan and Zanadin Fariz.
This time around, the squad included several diaspora players who have established themselves in Indonesia, including Thom Haye, Ragnar Oratmangoen, Ivar Jenner, Sandy Walsh and Jordi Amat.
However, that squad was still not enough to take Indonesia into the semi-finals.
PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi believes the outcome could have been very different had several of Indonesia’s overseas-based stars, including Kevin Diks, Jay Idzes and Calvin Verdonk, been available.
“Approximately 14 players did not join our squad for the AFF Championship. PSSI understood that we could not force them to participate. We also maintained good cooperation and relationships with their clubs and did not force them to release the players for the 2026 AFF Championship,” Yunus Nusi told reporters, including Vivagoal, at the Ministry of Youth and Sports on Monday morning.
“So there were 14 players whom we gave the freedom to not participate in the AFF Championship. I can imagine that if they had also been involved, we certainly could have achieved the best possible result at the AFF,” he added.
Unfortunately for Indonesia, the AFF Championship is not an official FIFA competition. As a result, clubs are not obliged to release their players for the tournament, leaving Indonesia unable to call up several of their key overseas-based players.
