Indonesia sack football coach Shin in search of FIFA World Cup 2026 spot

Shin Tae-yong, the nation’s football chief, fired Indonesia’s men’s football coach, with the country’s football minister claiming the team needed stronger leadership as they prepare to compete for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

The Indonesia Football Association (PSSI)’s head of communication, Erick Thohir, stated at a press conference on Monday that “we need a leadership that implements strategies as agreed with the players, implements better programs, and communicates better.”

Thohir said Shin’s work with the team had “ended” and his replacement, whom he declined to name, would arrive in Indonesia on January 11.

Indonesia, a country with tens of millions of passionate football fans, only made its one World Cup appearance under Dutch rule in 1938, and it has rarely threatened to make a comeback since gaining its independence in 1945.

After six of their ten matches, Indonesia is third in their World Cup group, one point behind Australia in the race to earn the second automatic spot in the finals.

Even if they place third or fourth, they could still advance through additional qualifying rounds and an intercontinental playoff to reach the finals in North America.

Thohir, who claimed to have spoken with three candidates for Shin’s replacement during a recent trip to Europe, was unconcerned about changing coaches’ schedule in the middle of the campaign.

“It’s normal. Lots of countries switch coaches during World Cup qualifiers”, he added.

We’ve been discussing this for a while, but I believe the moment is right because we still have two and a half months to prepare for the upcoming games.

We still have four matches to play for, and we want to score as many points as possible.

In 2019, South Korean Shin took over as the head coach, and Thohir promised to pay for his 2027-year contract.

Shin benefited from a PSSI strategy to entice Indonesian diaspora players who were primarily born in the Netherlands to play for their country.