Indonesia W

1921–1938: Colonial era

Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies was the national team that represented the territory of present-day Indonesia during the Dutch colonial era. The team was organized by the Dutch East Indies Football Union (NIVU), which became a member of FIFA on 24 May 1924. The first recorded unofficial match of the Dutch East Indies was against Singapore on 28 March 1921 in Batavia, which ended in a 1–0 win. This was followed by matches in August 1928 against Australia (2–1 win) and in 1930 against a team from Shanghai, China (4–4 draw).

On 19 April 1930, Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was founded with Soeratin Sosrosoegondo as the first leader, after most all non-national organizations in the country such as VIJ Jakarta, BIVB Bandung, PSM Mataram, IVBM Magelang, VVB Solo, MVB Madiun, and SIVB Surabaya gathered at a meeting in Soerakarta and agreed to form the second national football organization in order to resist the Dutch control of the colonies by gathering all the footballers to play under PSSI.

In 1934, a team from Java represented the Dutch East Indies in the Far Eastern Games in Manila, Philippines. The team managed to beat Japan 7–1 in the first match, but the last two matches ended in defeat, 0–2 to China and 2–3 to the Philippines, resulting in the team finishing second in the tournament. These matches are considered by World Football Elo Ratings to be the first matches involving the Indonesia national team. On 9 June 1935, two national organizations, NIVU and PSSI, joined forces and worked together to contribute players to the national team. NIVU remained the official football association of the Dutch East Indies and was admitted to FIFA membership on 14 August 1936, after first becoming a member in 1924.

1938–1945: Asia's first FIFA World Cup participant

Dutch East Indies made its FIFA World Cup debut during the 1938 edition in France. The team advanced to the final round without playing any qualifying matches. Japan, who were drawn in Group 12 of the qualifying round with the Dutch East Indies, decided to withdraw from the competition. The Dutch East Indies were then ordered by FIFA to carry out a play-off match against one of the Group 11 participants, the United States. The match was scheduled to be played on 29 May 1938, but never took place after the United States also decided to withdraw from the competition. This allowed the Dutch East Indies to advance to the final round as Asia's first World Cup participant.

In the final round, the Dutch East Indies were coached by Johan Mastenbroek who also served as chairman of the Dutch East Indies Football Association (NIVU). The team consisted of 17 players and was captained by a local Indonesian, Achmad Nawir. In the competition which still used the knockout format, the Dutch East Indies were eliminated in the first round when they were defeated by Hungary 0–6. This match took place on 5 June 1938 at the Stade Municipal, Reims. At the end of the competition, Hungary who had previously eliminated the Dutch East Indies, became the runner-up of the competition after being defeated by Italy 2–4 in the final. Before Curaçao in 2026, the Dutch East Indies had been the only team to have qualified for a FIFA World Cup before becoming an independent nation.

1949–1984: Independence era

After the Second World War, followed by the Indonesian Revolution in 1947, the national team no longer used the name Dutch East Indies and replacing it with the name Indonesia. The previous national football organization, the Dutch East Indies Football Union (NIVU) was succeeded by the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). The team's first official match under the name Indonesia was on 5 March 1951 at the Asian Games, where they lost 0–3 by the host nation India at the National Stadium, New Delhi.

Indonesia qualified for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. The team advanced directly to the quarter-finals of the tournament after the withdrawal of their first-round opponents, South Vietnam. In the quarter-finals, the team met the Soviet Union who had previously defeated the United Team of Germany 2–1. The match was held on 29 November 1956, where Indonesia forced the Soviet Union to a goalless draw. This resulted the match being replayed two days later where the team lost 0–4.

In 1957, Indonesia dominated the qualifying round of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. The team defeated China in the first round, then subsequently refused to play its next opponents, Israel, for political reasons. Indonesian player Rusli Ramang became the top scorer at the end of the competition with 4 goals.

Indonesia won the bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games where the team beat India 4–1 in the third-place match. The team also drew 2–2 with East Germany in a friendly match. Indonesia won Merdeka Tournament trophy on three occasions (1961, 1962 and 1969). The team were also champions of the 1968 King's Cup. Indonesia returned to World Cup qualification rounds in 1974 as the team was eliminated in the first round, with only one win from six matches, against New Zealand. During the qualification round of 1978 FIFA World Cup, Indonesia won a single of four matches, against the host team, Singapore. Four years later, in 1982, Indonesia won two FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, over Chinese Taipei and Australia.