August 4, 2025 | 06:53 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian U-23 national team will face South Korea in the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers. The match will take place at Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo, East Java, on September 9, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. WIB (Indonesian Western Time). South Korea is considered the strongest team in Group J of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.
South Korea, currently coached by Hwang Sun-hong, previously won the 2020 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. Despite this, the manager of the Indonesian U-23 national team, Zaki Iskandar, believes that the strength of the South Korean team between 2020 and 2025 is different. "The composition of the Korean players will be different from now on, just like the Indonesian U-23 national team. It can't be compared to the 2020 team," said Zaki to Tempo on Saturday night, August 2, 2025.
Zaki stated that the coaching team will identify the strengths of South Korea ahead of the 2025 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers. After that, both the strengths and key players of South Korea will be handed over to head coach Gerald Vanenburg. "So, later on, we will analyze the latest data on South Korean players, and then it will be handed over to the coaching team to devise their strategies," he said.
Zaki did not want to speculate about the strength of South Korea. According to him, the team's strength cannot be compared at this point. However, he is optimistic that the Young Garuda players will play to their maximum potential and secure victory. "We are definitely preparing the team to be ready to face all countries and all matches," he said.
Only the group winner and the four best runners-up will advance to the final round of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. Therefore, Zaki has set a target for Indonesia to earn full points in every match. "Yes, we will play as best as we can to win, to earn points, and score as many goals as possible," he said. "We have to win every match."
Meanwhile, Aji Santoso, the coach of Persela Lamongan, believes that the Indonesian U-23 national team needs to improve before facing the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers. He observed several issues within the team under Gerald Vanenburg's guidance, based on the final match of the AFF U-23 Asian Cup, where Indonesia suffered a 1-0 defeat.
Aji noted that Indonesia's opponents in Group J of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers — South Korea, Laos, and Macau — are comparable in quality to Vietnam. "Facing South Korea requires paying attention, as the team's quality is almost balanced. Similarly, there is not much difference in strength between South Korea and Indonesia," said Aji on Friday, August 1, 2025.
The 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers will take place from September 3 to 9, 2025. The event involves 44 teams, which are divided into 11 groups of three or four teams each. Indonesia is in Group J with South Korea, Laos, and Macau.
As the host, Indonesia will host the matches at Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo, East Java. Only the group winner and the four best runners-up from all groups will qualify for the final round of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia from January 7 to 25, 2026.
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