Indonesian national team coach John Herdman confirmed that the two upcoming tournaments, the FIFA Match Day in June and the ASEAN Hyundai Cup 2026, will feature two different squads.
In the FIFA Match Day against Oman on June 5 and Mozambique on June 9 at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, Herdman will utilize these two matches to be filled by the majority of Indonesian players who play in Europe, such as Jay Idzes, Emil Audero, Justin Hubner, Kevin Diks, and Maarten Paes.
Meanwhile, for the ASEAN Cup, formerly known as the AFF Cup, which begins at the end of July, Herdman will use local players who play in Indonesian football competitions, as well as in Southeast Asia.
"There's actually an opportunity for European players to join (the AFF Cup), but their clubs won't allow it. I have experience in CONCACAF with tournaments during this period, and FIFA rules are FIFA rules. So we will use domestic players, and that's important to me because our main targets are the 2027 World Cup and Asian Cup," Herdman said when met by media crews, including ANTARA, at Gelora Bung Karno Madya Stadium in Jakarta on Friday.
In the ASEAN Cup, Indonesia started the competition from Group A against Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Brunei Darussalam/Timor Leste.
The Garuda team will start the tournament by hosting Cambodia on July 27, then play away against the winner of the play-off between Brunei Darussalam or Timor Leste on July 31.
The next match is against Vietnam at home on August 3 and then closes with an away match against Singapore on August 7.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the two-legged semifinals on August 15-16 and August 18-19, with the semifinal winners advancing to the two-legged final on August 22 and 26.
