Indonesia hires a new coach after missing the World Cup

Indonesia's football federation has hired John Herdman, a 50-year-old English coach, to lead the men's national team after it failed to reach the 2026 World Cup. As the Associated Press reports, Herdman replaces Patrick Kluivert, who left in October, and the federation praised him as "not just a coach, but a football architect."

Herdman comes with a strong record. He led Canada's men to the 2022 World Cup and took the Canadian women's team to the 2015 tournament. Indonesian media reported a two-year contract with the option for two more years. His first big job is to prepare the team for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.

The hire matters because football is a national passion in Indonesia, and the men's team has not reached the World Cup since 1938, when it played as the Dutch East Indies. Missing out again on the 2026 tournament was a painful blow, and the federation is betting that a foreign coach with international experience can finally change the team's fortunes.

Why it matters

For millions of Indonesian football fans, this decides whether the national team can end nearly a century of World Cup absence. A respected coach can lift a team, but only with time and steady support behind him. Watch how Indonesia performs on the road to the 2027 Asian Cup, the first real test of the new era.