Coach Shin is fired by Indonesia due to World Cup targets

The Indonesian football director said the team needed more leadership as it fights for a spot at the 2026 World Cup, so he fired coach Shin Tae-yong on Monday.

However, Indonesia’s last World Cup appearance occurred during Dutch rule in 1938, and after gaining independence in 1945, the nation, which has tens of millions of ardent football supporters, has hardly threatened a comeback.

According to Erick Thohir, the chairman of the Indonesia Football Association (PSSI), Shin’s tenure with the club has “ended” and his replacement—whom he did not specify—will land in Indonesia on January 11.

“We need a leadership that implements strategies as agreed with the players, communicates better, and implements better programs for our national team,” Thohir stated in a press conference.

After six of ten games, Indonesia is now one point behind Australia in the race for the second automatic berth in the World Cup finals, and third in their group.

Shin was contacted by Reuters on social media for comment.

Further qualifying rounds and an intercontinental playoff might still advance them to the North American finals if they place third or fourth.

During a recent trip to Europe, Thohir claimed to have interviewed three potential replacements for Shin and expressed no worries that the team would be disrupted by a coach change in the middle of the season.

“It is typical. “Many nations change their coaches during World Cup qualifying,” he continued.

Since we still have two and a half months to prepare for the upcoming games, I believe the time is right to bring up this topic, which we have been talking about for many months.

“We still have four matches, and we want to get as many points as we can.”

When South Korean Shin took over as coach in 2019, Thohir promised to pay him for the remaining years of his contract, which expires in 2027.

Enticing members of the Indonesian diaspora, who were primarily born in the Netherlands, to play for the national team was a PSSI policy that benefited Shin.

Last November, Indonesia shocked regional giant Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta, becoming the only country in Southeast Asia to advance to the third round of qualification.

Shin need an interpreter to coach the team, and Thohir stated that he would expect his replacement to provide stronger technical direction and communication.

Former Inter Milan owner Thohir claimed to have communicated to the applicants that earning a spot in the World Cup was the top goal.

“All the candidates that we interviewed during the five days I was in Europe … agreed that this was the target,” he explained.

“This is why they agreed to join the interviews.”