Indonesia has caught the attention of all Southeast Asia with their first-ever World Cup victory

The Indonesia U17 men's squad stands as the sole Southeast Asian male football team to secure a win in a World Cup event.

The Indonesia U17 team concluded their Group H campaign at the 2025 U17 World Cup in a highly impressive manner by defeating Honduras 2-1. Evandra Florasta put Southeast Asia on the scoreboard with a perfect penalty kick in the 52nd minute. Honduras responded two minutes later with a similar effort by Luis Suazo.

The winning goal for Indonesia U17 came in the 72nd minute. A powerful shot from Fadly Alberto Hengga beat the Honduran goalkeeper. This victory holds great significance for Indonesia U17, marking their first-ever win at a prestigious event like the U17 World Cup.

Notably, this is also the first-ever victory for Southeast Asian men's football at any World Cup, a milestone that Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar have yet to accomplish. These ASEAN teams have previously participated in various World Cup levels but never secured a win.

Vietnam's U20 team competed in the 2017 U20 World Cup with talented players like Quang Hải, Hoàng Đức, and Bùi Tiến Dũng but were eliminated early after losing all three matches to France, Honduras, and New Zealand. Two years earlier, Myanmar's U20 team also participated and lost all three group stage games.

These are the two recent instances of Southeast Asian men's football teams qualifying for youth World Cup finals. Further back, Thailand qualified twice consecutively for the U17 World Cup in 1997 and 1999 but failed to win any match, losing all six games.

By defeating Honduras, Indonesian football has achieved its first-ever victory in World Cup history. In 2023, Indonesia's U17 team participated in the U17 World Cup as hosts but were eliminated in the group stage with two draws and one loss. Meanwhile, at the senior, U20, women's senior, U20 women's, U17 women's, men's futsal, and women's futsal levels, no Indonesian team has ever qualified for a World Cup final tournament.

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