Indonesia complete national football team lineup with all naturalized players

Although Paes was born in the Netherlands, his maternal grandmother is Indonesian, allowing him to complete the naturalization process and become an Indonesian citizen on April 30, 2024.

Initially, the 26-year-old goalkeeper was ineligible to play for the Southeast Asian national team because FIFA denied his transfer from the Royal Dutch Football Association to the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). According to FIFA regulations, players can only switch national teams if they were under 21 when they last played for their previous team in an official match. Paes was playing for the Netherlands in the U21 European Championship qualifiers when he turned 22.

The PSSI decided to appeal FIFA’s decision, leading to a hearing on August 15. Three days later, PSSI confirmed that FIFA had approved Paes to play for Indonesia.

Standing at 1.91 meters tall, Paes is currently the starting goalkeeper for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the U.S., where he has played 164 matches since 2022. Before moving to the U.S., he was with FC Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie from 2018 to 2022.

Paes will be eligible to play for Indonesia in their match against Saudi Arabia on September 5, as part of Group C in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. In this round, Indonesia will also compete against Australia, Japan, Bahrain, and China.

Initially, PSSI and coach Shin Tae-yong had hoped that Paes could participate from the second qualifying round of the World Cup. He is seen as the missing piece in the team and is expected to take over the starting position from 22-year-old goalkeeper Ernando Ari. Previously, Indonesia had naturalized American-born goalkeeper Cyrus Margono, but he wasn’t in the coach’s plans.

With Paes in the lineup, Indonesia can field a team of 11 naturalized players in a 5-3-2 formation. This lineup includes full-backs Sandy Walsh, Calvin Verdonk, and Shayne Pattynama; center-backs Jay Idzes, Jordi Amat, and Justin Hubner; midfielders Ivar Jenner, Thom Haye, and Nathan Tjoe-A-On; and strikers Rafael Struick and Ragna Oratmagoen.

“We believe that Maarten Paes will bring a positive impact to the team and help the Indonesian national team achieve better results. This decision shows PSSI’s commitment to finding the best talents to build the future of Indonesian football,” PSSI president Erick Thohir said on the official website.

Indonesian players celebrate scoring a goal against Vietnam during the second round of World Cup qualifiers on March 26, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Hieu Luong

Other players of Indonesian descent include goalkeeper Cyrus Margono, center-back Elkan Baggott, midfielder Marc Klok, and striker Jens Raven. However, Baggott has been excluded from the squad by coach Shin due to his dissatisfaction with limited playing time and his refusal to join the team in March.

Since 2022, Indonesia has been the most active Southeast Asian nation in naturalizing overseas football players.

The inclusion of naturalized players has greatly enhanced the strength of Indonesian football. In early 2024, Indonesia advanced past the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup for the first time and progressed to the third qualifying round of the World Cup, also for the first time. Meanwhile, their U23 team finished fourth in the 2024 U23 Asian Cup but missed the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics after a 0-2 loss to Guinea in the intercontinental playoff.