Here is the record of Indonesia's results at the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the World Cup alone, is an international football competition followed by the men's soccer team of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world football governing body. This championship has been held every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, which was not held due to World War II.
The tournament is divided into two stages, namely the qualification stage and the final stage (officially called the World Cup Final). The qualifying phase, which is currently held within about three years before the final, is used to determine which team will qualify for the World Cup Final. The final format is currently followed by 32 teams, competing for the title in the host country in more than a month. The World Cup Final is the most watched sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. [1]
The Indonesian national football team only participated once in the FIFA World Cup, which was in 1938 in France under the Dutch East Indies, and was the first Asian team to compete in the FIFA World Cup. Although the country is now independent from the Netherlands and changed its name to Indonesia, FIFA decided that Indonesia was the successor of the Dutch East Indies team. The Netherlands Indies faced Hungary in its first game, and lost 6-0. The knockout system used at the time led to this match being the only game ever played by the Indonesian team. Thus, Indonesia holds the FIFA World Cup record as the only team with the fewest matches played (1 match), and one of the fewest goals in FIFA World Cup history (0 goals). [2]
In 1958, for the first time this country participated in the FIFA World Cup qualification by bearing the name of Indonesia. The Indonesian team managed to defeat China in the first round, but was later disqualified after refusing to compete with Israel. After 1958, the Indonesian team experienced a long hiatus from the FIFA World Cup due to the unfavorable political situation, both inside and outside the country. Indonesia finally re-participated in World Cup qualification in 1974.