Indonesia U-17 Team Receives Praise from Malaysian Pundit after World Cup Qualification

A Malaysian football pundit has expressed appreciation for Indonesia’s U-17 national team qualifying for the 2025 U-17 World Cup — an achievement that Malaysia failed to accomplish.

Nova Arianto’s team displayed impressive performance at the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup by defeating South Korea 1-0 and Yemen 4-1. These two consecutive victories secured Indonesia’s place in the knockout phase and guaranteed their ticket to the U-17 World Cup.

Indonesia stands as the only Southeast Asian team showing convincing performance in this tournament — unlike their neighboring countries who struggled:

• Thailand sits at the bottom of Group A after losses to Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia
• Vietnam only managed two draws against Australia and Japan
• Australia has collected just one point in Group B