Patrick Kluivert has left his role as head coach of the Indonesia national team following the country’s elimination last week from the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the All Indonesia Football Federation (PSSI) announced on Thursday.
Kluivert and his coaching staff had signed two-year contracts in January but those have been terminated after losses to Saudi Arabia and Iraq saw Indonesia miss out on securing the country’s first qualification for the FIFA World Cup since independence in 1949.
“The PSSI expressed its appreciation for the contributions of all members of the coaching team during their tenure,” the PSSI said. “This step was taken as part of a comprehensive evaluation of the national football coaching and development programme.”
The former Barcelona forward had been appointed to replace Shin Tae-yong and took the team into the fourth round of Asia’s preliminaries, Indonesia’s best performance in the continent’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
A 3-2 loss to Saudi Arabia last Wednesday in Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium left Kluivert’s team needing to win against Iraq on Saturday to keep alive hopes of securing a place at the FIFA World Cup via a series of playoffs.
But a 1-0 defeat against the Iraqis, who won courtesy of a second half goal by Zidane Iqbal, left the Indonesians bottom of Group B of the fourth round of Asian qualifiers and out of the competition.
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