Breaking the Vietnam - Thailand two-horse race

During the period 2017 - 2022, Southeast Asia witnessed the back-and-forth competition between Vietnam and Thailand. In 2017, the Thai team was the first Southeast Asian team to enter the third qualifying round of the World Cup under the leadership of coach Kiatisak.

But 4 years later, the Vietnamese team also participated in this playground, even coach Park Hang-seo and his team surpassed the "War Elephants" to set a new score record. In addition, the "Golden Star Warriors" also made a splash with their achievement of reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup, only to lose 0-1 to the powerful Japanese team before reaching the final.

Returning to the regional arena of the AFF Cup, the Vietnamese and Thai teams shared 3 championship titles. Of which, the "War Elephants" won the title twice in 2020 (held in 2021) and 2022. The only mark of the Indonesian team during this period was the runner-up position in the 2020 AFF Cup, watching Vietnamese football win the 2018 AFF Cup.

Also during this period, at the continental and regional youth levels, Vietnamese and Thai football also proved to be superior to the rest.

The Vietnam U.23 team won 2 gold medals at the 30th and 31st SEA Games, and won 2 consecutive U.23 Southeast Asian Championships (2022, 2023), while the Thailand U.22 team won 1 gold medal at the 29th SEA Games. At the U.20 and U.23 Asian tournaments, Vietnamese football emerged as the leading flag, most notably reaching the semi-finals of the 2016 U.19 Asian Championship and participating in the 2017 U.20 World Cup, and becoming runner-up at the 2018 U.23 Asian Championship...

But over the past two years, Indonesian football has been on the rise. The national team of the archipelago has defeated the Vietnamese team three times in a row at the 2023 Asian Cup and the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

Indonesia is also the only team from Southeast Asia to reach the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. In the FIFA rankings updated in April, they are the team with the strongest improvement in the world (up 8 places) while Vietnamese football continues to decline.

At the youth level, Indonesian football deservedly won the 32nd SEA Games gold medal. Most recently, they won the 2024 Southeast Asian U.19 Championship, once again defeating Thailand.

Remember 2 years ago, Thai football legend Mr. Piyapong Pue-on predicted that: "Indonesia could become a big obstacle, a competitor to Vietnamese and Thai football in the near future". That is becoming true.

Indonesia: Exponential Progress!

Last April, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) wrote a separate article to analyze the success of Indonesian football. FIFA assessed that the archipelago has made "exponential progress", in which hosting the 2023 U.17 World Cup finals is a turning point.

"The 2023 U.17 World Cup has a profound impact on the development of Indonesian football. It helps Indonesia improve its facilities, providing a world-class playground for players to promote development.

The tournament in Indonesia also attracts the attention and excitement of young people, creating a solid foundation for the development of football in the archipelago country," FIFA quoted a representative of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI).

The facilities are gradually being improved, helping PSSI to be able to organize annual playgrounds for young players. Diego Mandela Basro, a sports journalist for CNN Indonesia, shared with Thanh Nien Newspaper: "The success of Indonesian youth football comes from the youth tournament, where many talents appear.

The youth tournament is called Elite Pro Academy, and includes the U.16, U.19 and U.23 age groups. Players compete in a league-style round-robin format, with home and away matches and a knockout round.

Since then, some players have matured quickly and have been featured in the national league. For example, Dony Tri Pamungkas, the best player of the 2024 Southeast Asian U.19 tournament, has been playing regularly in Liga 1 for Persija."

In addition, PSSI is also working closely with FIFA to develop youth training as well as women's football. Notably, FIFA also sponsored 5.65 million USD for Indonesia to have its first National Youth Training Center in history.

In the next 2 years, PSSI will continue to mobilize funding and ask for government budget to complete this center, expected to have 8 FIFA-standard football fields, fully equipped with modern equipment to surpass Vietnamese and Thai football in the long-term race.

With a systematic investment from the roots thanks to the potential and vision of the fiery tycoons, the ambition of Indonesian football is very big. They not only want to surpass Vietnamese and Thai football to "reign" in Southeast Asia but also aim to become the first representative of the region to win a ticket to the World Cup.

PSSI President, USD billionaire Erick Thohir affirmed: "In the short term, our goal is to enter the world's top 100. If we continue to build the team from young players like this, Indonesia's long-term goal is to participate in the World Cup with an official spot, not as the host team."